Angie Craig: “If the Senator will yield. Mr. President, let me address the minority leader. Certainly, all that he has said is exactly…”

“If the Senator will yield. Mr. President, let me address the minority leader. Certainly, all that he has said is exactly the conversation from my reference point that went on between him and the majority leader. There is no intent to block all amendments. That is not the intent of what the majority leader did. We have seen these amendments less than 30 minutes, in almost every instance, prior to the time they were offered. Certainly, the Senator from Nevada knows the opportunity to examine and look at these amendments, in light of similar amendments offered last year, is a reasonable request. That is the request the majority leader and I, as the floor manager, have made. Those amendments are under review now. The floor leader for the Democrats, Senator Reed, and I have visited about some of them that may well meet that scope, and we are reviewing them at this moment. This is not unprecedented, and the Senator from Nevada knows that. This is a procedure under the rules of the Senate that has been used over time. Has Majority Leader Frist used it? I don't know. I am not that good of a historian. But I have been here not quite as long as the Senator from Nevada, and I do know that both his side and our side have used it from time to time. It is clearly within the prerogative of the Senate to do so under its rules. At the same time, clearly, what the majority leader has expressed was expressed in good faith with the minority leader.…”