Political Quotes

“I want to spend a few minutes and bring everybody up to date. We have had wonderful cooperation in the last several weeks. We have gotten a lot done. Our passing the three bills that are left to do--student loans, flood insurance, and the highway bill--would be a significant accomplishment. We are going to do it; it is only a question of when. A lot of the committees and the chairs and ranking members worked late last night. I talked to CBO today. They didn't get the information that they started scoring until 4 a.m. They are moving forward and doing their best. As with all agreements, things come up, and at this point everything appears to be just right. The committees of jurisdiction have indicated they have worked through all these matters. They have completed the drafting of a revised version of the conference report. We expect this to be filed momentarily--it could have already been filed. But what we have done many times is we have voted on what the House has filed before they passed it. We have done that many times. It is standard procedure. Right now we don't have the consent from all Senators to do that, but that could be forthcoming. I will report back to the Senate within the next hour, after I find out whether we can finish this work tonight or whether we have to come back tomorrow. Everyone stay tuned. At this point, I can't express enough appreciation to everyone--Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate.…”