Arlen Specter: “Well, I have no present intention of supporting the amendment. I would like to try to find a way to resolve the issue…”

“Well, I have no present intention of supporting the amendment. I would like to try to find a way to resolve the issue substantively. But it is not an infrequent occurrence that the House leaves town and leaves us with a gun at our head, where we have no practical alternative but to yield to the House, which is out of town, to run the Government. But I am intrigued by what the Senator from Alaska has said. He is very experienced and has been here a long time. He knows the ins and outs of Government perhaps better than anyone. And when the Senator says the States will provide the shortfall in the interim, it is a brief period of time, or FEMA could step in, I would be interested in the comments--I have discussed this preliminarily with Senator Harkin.”