Howard Metzenbaum: “I want to say to my colleague--and all three of us have been around here a long time--all three of us know the…”

“I want to say to my colleague--and all three of us have been around here a long time--all three of us know the procedures of the Senate are such that it is not too difficult, if you stay on the floor, to delay consideration of a matter. I do not intend to do that and I have no desire to do that. But it is my understanding that certain amendments of the Senator from Ohio had been cleared. I now understand one of them may be in some controversy or some difficulty. I came over to the floor in order to try to work out that amendment. Once that amendment is given a green light--and I do not believe it to be controversial--then it seems to me we might be able to pass about 15 or 20 amendments, including the amendment of the Senator from Mississippi, a number of the amendments of the Senator from Ohio, and a number of amendments of other Members of this body. So if I have to stay here on the floor with reference to the amendment of the Senator from Mississippi, protecting the floor in order to get this--I am not at liberty and I am not in a position to try to work out the one more controversial amendment that seems to be creating the problem at the moment. I am frank to say to both the Senator from Mississippi and the Senator from Alabama that I do not know why the amendment of the Senator from Ohio, which has to do with retiree benefits, is at issue or is a problem. I thought the matter had been worked out.…”