Kent Conrad: “I come to the floor to ask a number of questions of my colleagues who are managing the bill. I have very high regard for…”

“I come to the floor to ask a number of questions of my colleagues who are managing the bill. I have very high regard for the chairperson, Senator Collins. I have worked with her on other matters and found that she is an extremely able and diligent Member. I admire the way she has handled this legislation. I have watched the process as it went through the committee. I am not on the committee but I watched as it was being televised. I thought it was a very professional process. I also have very high regard for the Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Lieberman. I am not on the relevant committees. I am not on the Intelligence Committee. I am not on the Defense Committee. I am on the Budget Committee and the Finance Committee and deal with these issues from a budget point of view and financing point of view. With that said, I come to the floor to ask a series of questions. I want to indicate that I have with me charts that were prepared by the office of Senator Lieberman to talk about what the structure currently is and what this legislation would do to change it and to raise a number of concerns that I have about that change.”