On the recordMay 18, 2010
It is not just me. It is my understanding that the Levin- Merkley amendment is in the same position. So it is a circumstance, it appears to me, where someone said: Well, now, it is inconvenient for us to vote on things that are a little bit controversial or have a little more bite to address these issues. Because it is inconvenient, we are going to object, so you are not going to be able to offer those amendments. I do not know how we got to this cliff, but falling off that cliff is not acceptable to me. We have been voting for 2 weeks and people have been able to offer amendments. I voted on amendments I did not want to vote on from the other side. They had a right to offer them, and I voted on them. That is fine. Was there a moment when we decided, all of a sudden, that the other side will have a veto authority over our ability to offer amendments of any consequence? I do not know when that happened, but that is totally inappropriate, given the couple weeks we have been through here.
