Political Quotes

“Mr. President, let me speak very briefly on secret holds and then make a unanimous-consent request. I express again my appreciation to the distinguished Senator from Iowa, Mr. Grassley. He very often seems too logical for some of these debates. I very much share his view. The point is, we do have a great deal of consensus. We have had three Senators, in effect, talking over the last 20 minutes with no substantive disagreement. The reality is, eliminating secret holds and shining some sunlight in the Senate on how we do business, it is ready to go. It has been ready to go now four times in the last 10 days. I very much appreciate Senator Grassley's comments today. We ought to have a vote on it. I have tried to show my good will, as the distinguished Senator from Iowa has this morning, in saying that we happen to think Senators Coburn and McCaskill and Senator DeMint's comments reflect this--have a very good idea as well. I have told them privately and again I state publicly this morning that it is my intent to be a cosponsor of the legislation. It is not yet ready to go, which is, in effect, what Senator Grassley has touched on. Efforts to reform the Senate and do our business in public when the American people are as angry as they are at the way Washington, DC, does business--one ought to have, as Senator Grassley says, the guts to go public when one is trying to object to a bill or nomination.…”