Political Quotes

“When the bill came before the Senate, it passed overwhelmingly. I believe it was 92-2. Two people voted against it. By the time we got to conference, there were two or three open items. We settled those in one evening. It is a good bill. As with all pieces of legislation, it is probably imperfect, but it is the best we can do. I see my friend from Montana in the Chamber. There is a provision in the bill about which he and I have spoken dealing with drilling for oil in New York near the Finger Lakes. The Senator is absolutely right that the matter in our bill is under the jurisdiction of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and not within the jurisdiction of matters of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. That was done in this Chamber. Certainly, we did not try to hide anything. It was in the bill before it went to conference. It is for 1 year. Originally the amendment given to us would have done it permanently. It is basically for 1 year during the appropriations cycle. So I say to my friend from Montana publicly, as I said privately, I am sorry he was not aware of this.”