John Danforth: “first, I do believe that some explanation is in order for what happened in the Commerce Committee, because repeatedly it…”

“first, I do believe that some explanation is in order for what happened in the Commerce Committee, because repeatedly it has been said that this was a unanimous vote in the Commerce Committee that it was approved in the Commerce Committee. The fact of the matter is that it was agreed to by voice vote. There was not a recorded vote in the committee. It is true that any Senator on the Commerce Committee could have asked for a recorded vote. None was asked for. I want to explain why that was the case. It was the case not because everybody on our side of the aisle thought that this was just a terrific bill; they did not. We had people on our side who did not like this bill at all. But it was voice voted, very frankly, because it was the chairman's bill. It was the bill that the chairman has worked on over a long period of time, and I appreciate that. I know he has labored very, very hard to bring this bill to the floor of the Senate. He believes in it. A number of key ingredients in it are his. The so-called Hollings Centers are centers that are named after the very distinguished chairman of our committee. And I would really say that it was a matter of comity, plus the fact that it was $2.8 billion in an authorization bill, and people, frankly, let it slide. Maybe we should not have. In retrospect, we should not have. I should have asked for a vote and opposed it in committee.”