Political Quotes

“this week something rare occurred here in the Senate: We debated a bill under regular order. No filibusters were mounted, no cloture motions were filed on the motion to proceed. That is certainly a rare occasion. For that reason we have had ample time to debate and consider amendments. This is how the process should work. Typically, over the last few years we have spent weeks running out the clock on endless procedural motions rather than debating important legislation. It is no wonder the Senate rarely accomplishes anything when it takes more than a week to have a vote even to begin a bill; that is, whether we even take up a bill, start debate on a bill. I would note, however, that even in this case, and this is an important piece of legislation, the Defense authorization bill--I did not have to file cloture to get to the bill, but we spent weeks going back and forth to get this bill to the floor. Even though the bill managers are working mightily to make regular order work, a number of Senators have advanced nonrelevant amendments, threatening to derail the process. More than 360 amendments have been filed to this bill, many of them nonrelevant. I understand there is a lot of pent-up feelings about: Why have I not been able to offer amendments the last couple of years? Well, because we have not gotten on bills, and when we do, nothing much happens because of the problems that have developed.…”