Byron Dorgan: “I have listened somewhat this morning, as I have been in meetings, and as I had an ear tuned to the television set, it…”

“I have listened somewhat this morning, as I have been in meetings, and as I had an ear tuned to the television set, it occurred to me we are doing the least productive thing we could possibly be doing here this morning in the Senate, and that is spending a lot of time debating about which constitutional amendment is better than the other. Both of these constitutional amendments have merit. I intend to vote for the Reid amendment, and if that fails I will likely vote for the Simon amendment. It is not a case where one side walked down from the mountain with tablets of stone and said: This is the only amendment that has merit; this is the only amendment that is worthy; and this is the only amendment that will work. It is just wrong. That chart--read the fine print--is wrong. It is wrong. That is not the Reid amendment. If the Reid amendment passes, we will be better off than we are today, in my judgment. And I will bet you this. If the Reid amendment were the only constitutional amendment on the floor of the Senate today, it would pass.”