John Sarbanes: “I will speak briefly to the McConnell amendment which has been added as a second-degree amendment to the Edwards-Enzi…”

“I will speak briefly to the McConnell amendment which has been added as a second-degree amendment to the Edwards-Enzi amendment. Before I address that amendment itself, let me again indicate my very strong support for the underlying first-degree amendment, the Edwards-Enzi amendment, which was very carefully worked out and I believe represents a constructive suggestion. I am hopeful we can get to that amendment and have a vote on it sometime in the near future. Obviously, the way things are now structured, we have to dispose of the McConnell second-degree amendment in order to get to the Edwards-Enzi amendment, but I think the Edwards-Enzi amendment warrants both the attention and the support of this body. I hope at some point we will be able to do that. I am not going to address the substance of the McConnell amendment, or perhaps I will discuss it only in passing. I simply wish to observe that it is not relevant to this bill.”