Jim Inhofe: “I do regret this. Let me repeat what was just objected to. There are 10 amendments that are cleared on both sides.…”

“I do regret this. Let me repeat what was just objected to. There are 10 amendments that are cleared on both sides. Democrats are all for them. Republicans are all for them. I suggest the junior Senator from Kentucky is for all these amendments too. If we don't have these amendments, what amendments will we have? What good does it do to offer an objection to these amendments that are all germane just because he is upset with some senior Senator from another State? I am thinking now: Where do we go from here? I am going to offer another bloc of votes as soon as we have some that are all germane and agreed to on both sides. When that happens, I am hoping there will not be an objection. I am hoping to break this logjam. If not, then what is going to happen is that we are going to end up voting for this bill. We know it is going to pass. It has passed for 57 consecutive years. It is going to pass, but it will pass without the amendments of those individuals who have wanted an open amendment process, which I have wanted, which my Democratic colleague has wanted, and we have made that effort for a long period of time. I am concerned. I think that it could end up that we will have--it is not as if we haven't had amendments. In our committee, we had some 300 amendments that we actually considered. We went through the amendment process. We have had a lot of input from other Members, but again, we are committed to an open amendment process.…”