Harry Reid: “We have two of the most experienced managers in the Senate working on this bill, Senators Grassley and Baucus. The rules…”

“We have two of the most experienced managers in the Senate working on this bill, Senators Grassley and Baucus. The rules of this tax debate are not the ordinary rules of the Senate. They are unique in this piece of legislation. So we need to make sure that Members understand that, and that those who have amendments, as the majority leader has indicated, give the managers some indication as to when they will be ready. We don't have the luxury, as we have on a lot of pieces of legislation, to just wait around until they show up. With some exceptions, the time runs all the time--with the exception, of course, if there are rollcall votes. I ask that all Members understand that the rules of this debate are different than others. If we are going to complete all of the work people want--we have a significant number of amendments on this side that people want to offer, and they may not be able to offer them. If the majority wants to take time on our amendments, they can do that, of course. This is also one of those times when we have the ability to enter into debate and have amendments voted on. We are going to have this trimmed down as much as we can on our side, but we have a lot of amendments. Voting alone on this bill could take several hours. So I hope everybody will cooperate with Senators Grassley and Baucus and help us move this important piece of legislation.”