Harry Reid: “if a Senate filibuster over ANWR stops a Defense bill, the legislation can be quickly modified and passed. So there is…”

“if a Senate filibuster over ANWR stops a Defense bill, the legislation can be quickly modified and passed. So there is no impact on military finances. If someone proposing this loses, then we will reconstitute the conference and ANWR will be out. Now, this is not me talking. This is the distinguished President pro tempore of the Senate, Mr. Stevens, quoted in yesterday's Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Senator Stevens said: If the Senate filibuster stops the Defense bill, the legislation will be quickly modified and passed. There is no impact on military finances. If we lose, the distinguished Senator went on to say, we will reconstitute the conference and ANWR will be out. That is the point. I appreciate the honesty of the interview with my friend from Alaska with this newspaper because that is the way it is. If we prevail, that is, those who oppose this being in the bill, on the point of order which will likely be on Wednesday, then the Defense bill goes forward. No one voting on this point of order will stop the Defense bill. No one voting for cloture will stop the Defense bill. This bill will go forward. There is a continuing resolution that takes us to the end of the year, and we need not get that far. If, in fact, we have a majority of the Senators who vote on this point of order and it prevails, then the bill will go forward, just as the Senator from Alaska said yesterday in the Fairbanks newspaper.…”