Political Quotes

“If I had my druthers and I could make it happen, all of them would be within the context of that 11 days to which you refer. The chairman of the Budget Committee is on the floor. I know he's been working very, very hard, and I believe that we are close on the budget conference. I think that may well be a possibility. There may well be other conference reports available as well. I cannot tell you now specifically that there are bills that I am absolutely assured will be ready for that time frame, but I do believe that there will be significant pieces ready. The DOD authorization bill will, of course, be considered on the week of the 18th, I believe. That's the week of the 18th. The supplemental is obviously on our radar screen, and we hope to pass the supplemental before we leave as well. I was hoping for next week. That still is a possibility, but I'm not assured that they will be in place, ``they'' being Mr. Obey in our discussions. I'm not sure what his plans will be, whether he can move it ahead that quickly. The budget conference, of course the farm bill conference, the supplemental, and the DOD authorization are major pieces of legislation I want to see passed before we leave.”