John Sarbanes: “Let me say to my colleague, as a consequence of what occurred in the 107th Congress and the very close divisions that…”

“Let me say to my colleague, as a consequence of what occurred in the 107th Congress and the very close divisions that took place, and indeed the assertion by what was then the Republican minority of the necessity of protecting their staff positions, we developed a new understanding with respect to the allocation of resources, something that many Members have been arguing for over a number of years. So the position that is being advocated by this side is simply reciprocity on the basis of what was done in the 107th Congress. In fact, I ask my distinguished assistant leader, am I correct that what is now being sought by the minority is reciprocity in terms of being treated in the 108th Congress as we treated the minority in the 107th Congress? Is that correct?”