On the recordApril 20, 2016
I am happy to be here and have the Republican leader talk about the things he has been able to accomplish, but I would note--just to make sure the record is clear--the reason these things are happening is because we have a minority that is willing to work with the majority. The record should also be corrected to the effect that we have had over the last 7\1/2\ years lots of debates on energy--lots of them. The problem is that they have gone no place because of the obstruction of my Republican colleagues, with filibuster after filibuster on the bill that we are going to soon dispose of. I am glad. It is a really important piece of legislation. It was worked on for 5 years, led by Senator Shaheen, but it is really difficult to determine how many different times it was stopped because of obstruction--seven or eight times, that I can come up with. So we are glad to be able to get it done. Why? Because we wanted to get it done for years, and finally we are able to get it done. So we want to be here and work with the Republican leader and friends on the other side of the aisle to get things done. That is why we have been no obstacle to the FAA bill. It is too bad it is such a narrow version of what we wanted to do, but the Republican leader said we will finish the things that we wanted to do to deal with section 48(c) before the end of the year. ____________________





