Political Quotes

“Well, I hope not. I wish to answer the question. I hope not. But we are very close because this bill, as the Senator knows, came to the floor because he helped to draft certain provisions of this from two committees with bipartisan support. Our leader, Senator Reid, has bent over backwards. When Republicans objected, he basically sort of took some things out of the bill to put on the floor in hopes--didn't even make anybody vote on it, against my objections, and then we started a debate. Then it just sort of shut down after we got that lending program back on. We have to open it again. We have to find a way forward because that lending program is extremely important. The Senator was a cosponsor of that. We have to find a way forward. I think I heard tonight on the Senate floor--I think I heard--that we are somewhere between one and four amendments. So as we work over the weekend, I am hoping we can find a way to say yes because the Senator knows, representing Florida, it is a whole State full of small businesses. The Senator knows more than any Senator here how many businesses are hurting in Florida. Our whole gulf coast has been under tremendous strain over many issues the last couple of years. So I thank the Senator. I am just responding to his question to say I hope we are not at the point of no return. But we are close. If we can salvage this bill and move forward and do the right thing for small business, I think we can all be proud of that work.”