Judd Gregg: “I rise to speak briefly--not about the bill that is pending but about a bill that is somewhere in one of the hallways…”

“I rise to speak briefly--not about the bill that is pending but about a bill that is somewhere in one of the hallways around here, which is the supplemental that is necessary in order to fund our troops in the field. That bill was supposed to be marked up today in the Appropriations Committee, but, regrettably, for reasons which are not totally clear to me but which are reasonably apparent--which is that the House has not yet gotten its procedures in order--the bill was not marked up, the markup was canceled. It was supposed to start at 2 o'clock. I certainly hope we will mark up this bill. It is very important this bill be subject to regular order. It is a very significant bill, obviously, because it involves funding for our troops in the field. It is significant also because a lot of other matters which are extraneous to the issue of fighting the war and giving our troops the resources they need have been added to it on the House side, and even more, as it appears, maybe even being added on the Senate side. Thus, the Senate ought to have the right to work its will on the bill in the regular order, which includes a committee hearing where the various issues are aired and amendments can be made. Then when it gets to the floor, it should also be subject to amendments so the minority, especially, can have some input on the bill.”