Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I heard the majority leader's comments, and I appreciate them. It is not about the evenness of the amendments, but that was the agreement. That was the understanding before I arrived on the floor. My staff worked in concert with the staff of the Small Business Committee chair, Senator Landrieu from Louisiana, so that was the agreement. So that agreement obviously changed sometime in the last hour. Getting beyond that point, though, in talking about hearings, when I look at the list of amendments that are going to be voted on and put forward in the majority leader's unanimous consent agreement, many of these amendments have not had specific hearings. But everybody in the small business community, every small business in America, understands the value of regulatory reform. It is a very straightforward piece of legislation. Many of these issues have been addressed in hearings. Last fall we had a small business jobs bill, part of which was a $30 billion lending facility, and, believe me, there were serious problems with that lending facility. But that was not the subject of one Senate hearing, and I just want to understand, to garner clarity with respect to the standards that are now being established. This issue is very important. Regulatory reform is absolutely crucial and central to small business job creation, not to mention survival. You don't have to take too many Main Street tours to figure out what is happening on Main Street.…”