John Kerry: “we are beginning debate this morning on what is ostensibly the conference report of the Small Business Committee of…”

“we are beginning debate this morning on what is ostensibly the conference report of the Small Business Committee of which I have the pleasure to serve as the ranking member. Obviously, nobody has any illusions that what the debate on the floor of the Senate today is about is small business issues. This is the so-called tax bill that has been attached to the Small Business conference report. But let me say a word, if I may, about the process by which how this package was made a part of the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000. Despite being named a conferee, and despite the inclusion of provisions that are important to small business, and despite the fact that this conference report contains the work of the Small Business Committee and which I devoted a considerable amount of time effort and energy to negotiating, I will be voting against the overall conference report before us today.”