Arlen Specter: “I had hoped to make this floor statement in advance of the vote, but I could not be here yesterday. So, I have asked for…”

“I had hoped to make this floor statement in advance of the vote, but I could not be here yesterday. So, I have asked for time this morning to state my reasons for voting against the omnibus appropriations bill. And I do so with a conflict of my own views because I think this bill provides very substantial funding for very many important projects. However, I decided to vote against the bill because of the change from regular order and existing procedures in the appropriations process. The Constitution gives the authority to 100 Members of the Senate and 435 Members of the House, but as the appropriations process went forward the final decisions were made by only four Members.”