Political Quotes

“I want to tell my colleagues and anyone watching that just because Senators are not speaking on the Senate floor doesn't mean nothing is going on. I am incredibly impressed by the cooperation on both sides of the aisle as we try to get a finite list of amendments, as well as the proper sequence of those amendments in order to complete the business of moving to the continuing resolution. So there is a lot going on in other offices. These are not back rooms; they are not deal cutting. This is the workman-like way a parliamentary democratic institution does business. There are Senators who have ideas to improve the bill. Senator Shelby and I think our bill needs no improvement. We think we ought to just move to it, do it, send it to the House, and avoid any kind of gridlock of a government shutdown. However, Senators do have the right to offer amendments, and they have now offered their amendments. People are scrutinizing the amendments to make sure they understand the policy consequences and also that we don't have unintended consequences. Although it looks as though there is no debate going on here on the floor, there is a lot of discussion going on in Member offices. We hope that in a very short time we will be able to move to amendments so we can discuss and dispose of those amendments in a way that satisfies both parties. I just wanted people to know that.…”