On the recordJune 20, 2013
as I said many times, I have the deepest respect for the Senator from Iowa. He and I hardly ever disagree so this is quite unusual. We cosponsor so many amendments together for foster care, adoption--his work is legendary. But I do want to say this. I have tried to be extremely constructive here. Again, this is not about our list or their list. I am not even in charge of our list or their list. I literally am not a floor manager of this bill. I am not even a member of the committee. I do not even have access to our list or their list. I don't want it. I do not want to review the 200 amendments that are pro-gay, anti-gay, pro-fence, anti-fence. I am not interested--I am interested, but it is not in my lane. I have issues that I have to focus on as chair of Homeland Security. I am not a Gang of 8 Member, I am not on the Judiciary Committee, but I am a Senator and I came here to legislate. There are amendments. I am not sure this list is perfect but I promise you, out of 350 amendments filed, just by the nature of averages, at least 10 percent of them have to be noncontroversial. Not every amendment that is filed is going to arouse suspicion or concern or violate any principles we hold. Just by nature you are going to have 10 percent or 15 or 20 percent of all amendments that actually, with a little bit of work, should be adopted. What Senator Leahy said is absolutely correct. We used to do that when we trusted each other, when we respected our constituents.…
