Max Baucus: “I want to follow on with the comments of my good friend from Iowa, Senator Grassley, and praise him for pointing out…”

“I want to follow on with the comments of my good friend from Iowa, Senator Grassley, and praise him for pointing out that the conference system is becoming bankrupt. Way too often conferees put in measures and take out measures that have nothing to do with the underlying bill that goes to conference. It is becoming so bad that I think sometime--my hope is in the next Congress--the Senator from Iowa, myself, and others should meet with our leadership to prevent this from continually happening. It bankrupts the process. It also causes more Americans to become even more concerned about the political process. We, as Senators, cannot go home and say what is or is not happening. Rather, we have to go home and report just what the Senator from Iowa reported--that somehow, by magic or by mystery, things sort of appear and disappear. It does not make us feel good as Senators because we like to know what is occurring. It certainly doesn't help our constituents feel any better about the process because they hope we know what is happening. More than that, they hope we are fighting for their case. But if we don't know the contents of the conference process, we don't know how something gets put in or taken out, and we look foolish. It is a major abrogation of our responsibility as a Senate to the American people for whom we work. They are, after all, our employers. At times, the Senate is too secretive.”