John Kerry: “I appreciate the Senator being willing to take some time. I would like to follow up on the questioning of the Senator…”

“I appreciate the Senator being willing to take some time. I would like to follow up on the questioning of the Senator from Michigan, because I believe that he has targeted one of the most serious conflicts, ambiguities--whatever you want to label it at this point in time--and clearly in the legislative process, we ought to strive, where we identify that kind of ambiguity, to avoid it. I am sure the Senator would agree. As I read the relevant sections, I confront the same quandary the Senator from Michigan does, and I find that in the answers of the Senator from Louisiana there is, in effect--not consciously necessarily, but because of the difference of interpretation or definition, there is an unavoidable sliding away from the meat or the center of the hypothetical posed. The hypothetical that was posed by the Senator from Michigan is really more than a hypothetical. It is an everyday occurrence in the reality of agency rulemaking. I think the Senator from Louisiana knows that almost all the agencies quantify almost every benefit. So let me ask a first threshold question. Does the Senator from Louisiana accept that some benefits are quantifiable?”