Trent Lott: “This is a fair and very open agreement. I guess there is plenty of opportunity for mischief, if somebody on either side…”

“This is a fair and very open agreement. I guess there is plenty of opportunity for mischief, if somebody on either side decides to cause it. I guess we could get tangled up on many issues, completely unrelated to election and campaign finance reform. But we are trying to all act in good faith. The way this is constructed, Senators should have an opportunity to offer amendments, have those amendments debated for a reasonable period of time--3 hours is a good bit of time--and get a vote. Then if that doesn't carry, then a second degree could be offered or other amendments could be offered. I suppose that one example of the kind of mischief you can have is a Senator could get the floor and talk for a long time without ever offering an amendment and eat up 2 hours before he or she ever lays down their amendment. Then there would be 3 hours. That is not good faith. That would be violating the spirit of what we are doing here. Three hours is enough time to talk and have a vote. I have said all along, unlike in the past, I think everybody ought to have a chance to make their case and get a vote. I also think that 2 weeks is long enough.”