Byron Dorgan: “I suppose every Congress finishes with a speech by 1 or 2 or 10 or 20 Members of Congress talking about the unfinished…”

“I suppose every Congress finishes with a speech by 1 or 2 or 10 or 20 Members of Congress talking about the unfinished agenda. But that unfinished agenda in this Congress is mighty long and also mighty important. The Senator from Iowa talks about the Patients' Bill of Rights, education issues such as the crumbling schools, smaller class sizes--a whole series of initiatives that we really should get to. On September 22, a motion was brought to the floor of the Senate, a motion to proceed to the consideration of S. 2557. That is an energy bill. That motion to proceed has now been pending here in the Senate for a month and a day. My feeling is that the motion to proceed is here--and we are not voting on it and we are not proceeding--it is here because it is a motion to block any other effort to bring up any other issues. We have a wide range of issues; I suppose some of them are being negotiated these days, but most of them will remain unfinished at the end of this session.”