Arlen Specter: “I am glad I know that Senator Hollings was here. Otherwise, he would not have made those flattering, complimentary…”

“I am glad I know that Senator Hollings was here. Otherwise, he would not have made those flattering, complimentary statements. I know Senator Hollings has been here all day today and all day yesterday, because I came over to look for an opportunity to speak yesterday and the floor was taken, and earlier today I was looking for a chance to speak, and I came out of hearings on the Agriculture Subcommittee where we have a major problem with dairy pricing in Pennsylvania, which occupied me all afternoon. As I was about to say, Senator Hollings has been the leader on this, and it has been the Hollings-Specter constitutional amendment for the better part of a decade. Senator Hollings asked me to join him in the news conference Tuesday morning at 11:30 where we talked about this amendment and campaign finance reform generally, and then questions from the media got into the issue of what the Governmental Affairs Committee would be doing, more broadly than the constitutional amendment. Some of that got on to the wires and stimulated some of the discussion we had later at the Republican caucus. It was synergistic and moved the issue right along. It is very difficult to pass this amendment because it takes a two-thirds vote. There is no doubt about that. On May 27, 1993 the Senate adopted by a vote of 52-43 a sense-of-the-Senate resolution that this amendment should be passed, and my sense is that one day this constitutional amendment will pass. It will take a lot of effort.…”