Angie Craig: “I share the Senator's outrage. I agree that the Appropriations Committee chairman and ranking member and/or their staffs…”

“I share the Senator's outrage. I agree that the Appropriations Committee chairman and ranking member and/or their staffs or designees do not need this authority. You heard the Finance Committee chair speak, and the ranking member has spoken; they have this authority. But in them gaining this authority, there are very real sanctions against any disclosure. I know this is an opportunity to make a substantial amount of hypotheticals. Agents are also our staffs. That is what is intended within the law, and that is what is in the law today as it relates to the Finance Committee. I agree with the Senator; this ought to come out. You heard the chairman of the Appropriations Committee say it will come out. It is now not law, nor will it become law. I think that is what is most important. Is the system broken? Yes. This represents a broken system. What is not broken about it are the keen eyes of all of us and our staffs. The ranking member of the Budget Committee and his staff have found this, so the system is not broken; it just got discovered. It is not in the dark of night; it is a dark early evening. It is 6 o'clock and we are doing the business of the country. The Senator from California is absolutely right in what she says. I am not going to play hypothetical. That is the politics I will not enter into.”