Ben Cardin actually said...

"I think if the Senate failed to pass this, the attitudes back in Iowa, at least, would be mute astonishment, wondering how the government can abandon these most vulnerable members of our society."

"We expect you to try to do what sometimes we're unable to do in this Congress, to reach a bipartisan conclusion."

"The Commission is supposed to be evenly divided politically, but instead, two of the independents, one was a former Republican, one turned Republican, that joined in the opinion."

"I do not believe we know the answers to those questions, and I think we need to do a better job."