Political Quotes

“I am glad that for a few minutes the President pro tem is here in this body and presiding over the Senate. For years I have heard from Senate Republicans that they simply wanted to do some legislating; they were tired of being shut out of the legislative process; they were not able to debate legislation and amendments. They have assured the American people they want to be wholly dedicated to open and robust debate on legislation on the Senate floor. Yesterday a bill that was bipartisan in nature and came out under the auspices of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, after actually years of consternation, debate, and work by so many different people, came to the floor. That was blocked yesterday, blocked from even having a hearing here on the Senate floor. That is wrong. This is a very important piece of legislation. It protects Americans' rights to privacy without sacrificing the U.S. intelligence community's ability to gather information. I also say through the Chair to my friend the President pro tem of the Senate that it does not matter if you agree with the statement I just made. Maybe some people disagree with this legislation. Certainly there are people who disagree with it. But shouldn't we at least be able to debate the issue here on the floor? Doesn't legislation of this magnitude merit the Senate's consideration? Yet yesterday we were shut down once again--this has been going on for years--before we even got started.…”