Jim Inhofe: “I have bad news and good news. The bad news is that it was suggested to me that there is some type of a rule at a time…”

“I have bad news and good news. The bad news is that it was suggested to me that there is some type of a rule at a time like this where the senior person in the Chamber speaks next, and that is me. The good news is that it is short, and the reason is because I didn't really think about this until I came down here to watch Senator Hatch. I remember so well that long before I was in the House--Orrin, long before then--you were the guy I always listened to. You would get phone calls from some obscure State senator out in Oklahoma who was complimenting you. You might even remember one time when you and I put something together where we were going to balance the budget and pass an amendment that we knew would pass because we were going to confirm everything before we got it passed, and that was a brilliant idea that didn't work. Nevertheless, we talked quite often about things, and you were the one I looked up to. The same thing happened. You had a way. When I was in the House, I would see you more than anyone else during the annual National Prayer Breakfast. You would be active on that from the Senate, and I would be from the House. So you kind of had a way of saying things differently, the things you have heard many times before that you don't realize you have been wrong on all the time. You did it a few minutes ago when you talked about Lincoln. You talked about ``the House divided against itself'' and drew that relationship to what is happening today.…”