Political Quotes

“The question I am going to ask Senator Boxer to respond to is: What are the consequences if we invoke cloture about 15 minutes from now when that comes up for a vote on the floor? There were many of my colleagues who had amendments they wanted to offer. They filed those amendments. Unless those amendments become pending, it is my understanding that-- and unless those amendments meet the very narrow germaneness rule--they may be relevant to debate--but the germaneness rules are pretty tough so that unless we defeat cloture, we may not have an open amendment process. I know the majority leader talked about an open amendment process, but many of my colleagues--including this Member, who has additional amendments I would like to have considered--will not be able to get those amendments considered, if I understand it, Senator Boxer, unless the cloture motion is defeated. Let me talk for one moment about amendment 75, which I filed and is pending, and I think is critically important. What that amendment would do is allow our Governors and our county officials to be able to get information about the risk to their drinking water as a result of the potential spills on the aquifers. This is not a hypothetical question because the Ogallala Aquifer, which is the country's largest underground freshwater resource, is crossed by the proposed line of the Keystone.…”