Harry Reid: “I respond to my friend from Virginia, the comanager of this bill, Majority Leader Daschle announced in his dugout this…”

“I respond to my friend from Virginia, the comanager of this bill, Majority Leader Daschle announced in his dugout this morning that he wanted Members to offer amendments and that he was going to look very closely early next week, if things are not moving well, at filing cloture on this bill. We cannot have this bill not completed by the time we leave for the July recess. The committee has worked too hard. The President needs this legislation. The United States military needs it. We have to complete this bill. I agree with the Senator from Virginia. We have a very important amendment now pending, and we have to figure out some way to get this off the floor. There are many people working on that as we speak. The Senator from Virginia is absolutely right. Members need to offer amendments. The majority leader spoke earlier today; he very much desires to move this legislation along quickly. If it does not move quickly after a week or so of debate, he will try to invoke cloture.”