Kent Conrad: “I hope colleagues understand that for this budget cycle we have lost time to a number of extraneous events which could…”

“I hope colleagues understand that for this budget cycle we have lost time to a number of extraneous events which could not be helped. But it means we have less time than we have had in previous years. I hope my colleagues understand that we have put the debt limit discussion in the middle of this. We have had a number of other events, such as the joint session. As a result, we have less time for amendments. I beg the indulgence of colleagues in understanding that now the only way we can finish is if we have very tight time agreements tomorrow, and if we exercise discipline among ourselves in terms of the number of amendments that we offer. That is the only conceivable way we can finish by tomorrow night. I urge colleagues to think very carefully about amendments which they might want to offer.”