Max Baucus: “I appreciate the chairman's view that this side of the aisle is attempting to drag things out a little bit. The fact is…”

“I appreciate the chairman's view that this side of the aisle is attempting to drag things out a little bit. The fact is, our side is willing to have a vote on this amendment and on other amendments. We will enter time agreements. There is no attempt to delay at all. In fact, when I was sitting here yesterday I think the Senator from Massachusetts suggested 20 minutes for a time agreement. That is, he would agree to a vote in 20 minutes. I am not going to put words in the mouth of the good Senator as to how many minutes he would like in the time agreement now, but the point is we are willing to have votes and to vote very quickly on all these amendments. We are not holding up anything. It is also interesting to note when this welfare reform bill came up for debate in 1995, there were 40 recorded votes on the floor. I think we have had one thus far in the reauthorization debate. I think better legislation results when amendments are offered, when they are debated, and when they are voted on.”