Rob Portman: “If we are, I think we have got to try to be, not just bipartisan, but nonpartisan, and move forward and do the right…”

“If we are, I think we have got to try to be, not just bipartisan, but nonpartisan, and move forward and do the right thing. There are six committees of jurisdiction that we talk to on this issue. It would have been impossible, frankly, to go through those six committees and come up with this legislation in this legislative year. We thought it was an important issue, one that needed to come to the floor. We did consult with them extensively. In fact, the provisions in this bill which are cosponsored by my friend, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Barrett), Democrat, and myself are the result of a year-long consultation period, including with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the drug czar's office. There are other Democrats who are original cosponsors of the legislation. Committees waived their jurisdiction because, frankly, we solved their problems.”