Angie Craig: “Clearly, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 established an extraordinary procedure--not a precedent-setting procedure.…”

“Clearly, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 established an extraordinary procedure--not a precedent-setting procedure. Parliamentarians have agreed that is the case. But even today, as the Senator from Alaska has mentioned, we have been willing to shape that to accommodate the Senators from Nevada to allow debate on a motion to proceed prior to that vote. Clearly, the majority leader was not engaged on the floor. He already engaged us by saying he would not schedule a vote. He has walked away from his responsibility, if in fact it was there. I would argue that it was not there. Any Senator, by an act of Congress and by the law of the United States, could have done this. When we talk about precedent-setting action on the floor of the Senate as it relates to the rules of the Senate, we talk about the normal processes of configuring the schedule. I agree with the junior Senator from Nevada on that statement. This is not a precedent-setting action today. In fact, I think those who have observed it have recognized the kind of flexibility and give and take and the responsibility that this Senate had to take under the 1982 law. I believe the record will be complete.”