Political Quotes

“Madam President, the title of the bill just reported is the correct title. However, the legislation we are discussing inside that bill does not relate so much to the title. This is the FAA reauthorization bill, reauthorizing a wide range of programs in the Federal Aviation Administration. This is the fifth day we have been on the floor. Senator Rockefeller has been managing the legislation. He is necessarily absent now and asked me, as chairman of the aviation panel, to manage in his stead. He has said--and I agree--we have put together a piece of legislation that has substantial modernization pieces in it that will modernize the air traffic control system, provide substantial improvements in safety, improvements in the airport improvement program to invest in and expand the infrastructure in aviation. It contains a lot of things that are so very important. I worry now, on the fifth day on this legislation, that if we don't get it done today, we may not get this bill done at all. That would be a shame because this authorization has languished for a long time. Rather than reauthorize the FAA with a new authorization, we have extended it 11 straight times. That describes how difficult it is to get things done. Finally, Senator Rockefeller and Senator Hutchison have brought the bill to the Senate floor. Senator DeMint and I, as chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee, worked on the bill with them. We have now been here 5 days.…”