On the recordJuly 30, 2011
I believe my distinguished Republican friend must be a little bit confused because he is usually totally logical. He tells the American people this morning he was called to the White House last week and said: Mr. President, let us do the deal, and now he is telling the President he wants the President to do the deal. That is somewhat illogical. I wish to make sure everybody in the Senate understands clearly that when negotiations took place last Sunday, in a meeting between Leader Pelosi, me, the Speaker, and Senator McConnell, we tried very hard to work something out. But everyone should understand, when we left that meeting, we did not have anything worked out. We had nothing worked out. They were focusing on a 6-month extension, trying to come up with a trigger for the joint committee, which we have never been able to accomplish. It is OK they keep talking about an agreement the President overruled, but the President cannot overrule an agreement we don't have. Mr. McCONNELL. Will my friend yield on that?
