Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we have finished the first tranche of amendments and motions, some 23 in number, all of which were amendments pending at the end of the 20 hours. I think it is time we pause for a minute and find out where we are and where we need to go. First of all, I congratulate the entire Senate. I think the decorum of the Senate has been maintained in the highest standards. The debate has been good. I especially appreciate the work of the staff, the professionals they always are. We have handled, as I indicated, 23 amendments and motions. Not a single one has been adopted. All of the amendments and motions have been offered by the minority, which is their right. The average, according to CRS, number of amendments offered during this same type of proceeding is 21. We are two over that now. I want, of course, to congratulate my friend, Senator Gregg, who has managed these budget-type proceedings on many occasions and is always a gentleman, easy to work with. There could have been a lot of controversy. There has been none. There has been no reading of amendments. There has been agreement that time would be allowed to speak on behalf of amendments. I think, though--I am speaking to my chairs: Harkin, Baucus, Dodd, Conrad--they agree unanimously we need to just continue. The House of Representatives worked all weekend moving this issue along, and I think we need to move this along and find out if they have to take any action on this tomorrow, which is today.…”