Harry Reid: “it is clear that we have had a number of days that have been wasted on this piece of legislation. As to whose fault it…”

“it is clear that we have had a number of days that have been wasted on this piece of legislation. As to whose fault it is, there is lots of blame to go around. I don't think we need to get into the blame game. But the fact is, we have 29 Members of the Senate who are ensconced in Dirksen 109 or 106, whatever the number-- that is where I was headed a few minutes ago--on the supplemental appropriations bill dealing with funding for the military in Iraq and the reconstruction of Iraq. That meeting started at 10 o'clock today and is going as we speak. So we have approximately a third of the Members of the Senate who are there, one of whom is Mary Landrieu, the comanager of this bill. She indicated to me today, earlier today, she wanted to be there during the deliberations on that most important piece of legislation, some $87 billion that we have been asked to mark up and get to the Senate floor today. That bill will be on the floor this evening unless something goes wrong. Otherwise, it will be here tomorrow. So I understand, having managed a few bills in my day, how the Senator from Ohio would have loved to get this bill finished 2 days ago. But under the present status of the Senate, with the total thrust for the next 2 weeks being on the $87 billion that the President has requested, I think we would all be better served if the DC bill were taken from the calendar--which it will be just in a matter of hours. But I would love to see the bill passed.”