Jim Inhofe: “again, I am hoping that Senator Harkin is on his way and is prepared to offer his amendment. I look forward to…”

“again, I am hoping that Senator Harkin is on his way and is prepared to offer his amendment. I look forward to considering that. In the meantime, let's keep in mind we now have a limited period of time in which to work. The time is here. We are open for business. We want to have the amendments sent to the Senate. We invite our Members to do so. In the meantime, I will reconfirm and restate one of the reasons for the urgency of this bill. Not only is this one of the largest bills of the year, it is thought by many to be the most important bill we will consider in that it is a matter of life and death. We have core safety programs. If we were operating on an extension we do not have in this bill, we will not have the core safety programs and people will die. It is as simple as that, if we do not get this done. Consequently, it is always worth repeating how important it is to get the bill completed and what would happen if we do not. We are in our sixth extension. This extension expires May 31. On May 31, if we do not have something in place, we have another extension. If we have an extension as opposed to a bill, there is not a chance to improve the donor status. There are many States that are donor States, like my State of Oklahoma.…”