On the recordAugust 5, 2010
let me say again how extraordinarily disappointed I am. I have in my hand the proposal Senator Barrasso offered to the Secretary of the Interior. By the way, I don't accuse anybody of bad faith. The Senator from Wyoming is a friend of mine. I am enormously disappointed with him at this point. He has a right to be disappointed with me, if he wishes. Let me just say this. This negotiation ensued last November and December, resulting in a settlement. None of us here were part of that settlement--excuse me, we weren't a part of the negotiation that reached the settlement. That is not the role of the Senate, to be involved in a 100-person negotiation. The lawsuit was a suit brought by plaintiffs against the Secretary of the Interior. The negotiations were negotiations with the Secretary of the Interior, who was the defendant in that suit. That is appropriate and the way it should be. If we don't like what that negotiations developed and don't support the settlement and believe we can do better, then we should object. But then we don't get this done. That has happened six times this year. Over and over and over again, we have failed to act on this matter. My colleague has five things he wants that are different than the settlement. Maybe they are better, I don't know. I don't have the foggiest idea.…
