Political Quotes

“the Senate opens this morning after a very late night of amendment votes on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act--USICA; those are the initials--five in total, four of which of these amendments were sponsored by Republicans. So far on this bill, the Senate has held votes on no fewer than 18 amendments, 4 from Democrats and 14 from Republicans, and there are more to come. As I mentioned yesterday, in a landmark moment for bipartisanship in the Senate, we even adopted an amendment from Senator Rand Paul by voice vote. Yes, that is right. I said the two words together. Rand Paul; voice vote--four words. I said the two concepts together: Rand Paul; voice vote--four words. Now, the media will tell you that if you are talking process, you are losing, but the process was really important here. For years, Senators have been clamoring for a more open process and more amendment votes. I can't tell you how many speeches I have heard on the floor about the virtues of regular order. Well, this competition bill ought to be the answer to my colleagues' prayers. The bill has moved through regular order, flying through various Senate committees with staggering bipartisan votes. The entire Senate opted to take up the bill by a vote of 86 to 11. Here on the floor, we have held the kind of vigorous, bipartisan, open amendment process that Senators have been calling for. Some of these votes were tough for our side. In the old days, we would have said no.…”