Political Quotes

“for seven years Senator Grassley and I have teamed up in a bipartisan way to champion the cause of the sunshine hold in the United States Senate. The sunshine hold is the less popular step sister of the more commonly used ``secret'' hold. Even though it is one of the Senate's most popular procedures, neither the sunshine nor the secret ``hold'' can be found anywhere in the United States Constitution or in the Senate Rules. It is one of the most powerful weapons that any Senator can wield in this body, and in its stealth version, known as the ``secret hold,'' it is far more potent and far more insidious. The ``hold'' in the Senate is a lot like the seventh inning stretch in baseball: there is no official rule or regulation that talks about it, but it has been observed for so long that it has become a tradition. Today, Senator Grassley and I are resubmitting the resolution we sponsored in the 107th Congress to amend the Senate Rules to require that any Senator who wishes to object to a measure or matter publish that objection in the Congressional Record within 48 hours. The resolution does not in any way limit the privilege of any Senator to place a ``hold'' on a measure or matter. It is the anonymous hold that is so odious to the basic premise of our democratic system: that the exercise of power always should be accompanied by public accountability. Our resolution would bring the anonymous hold out of the shadows of the Senate.”