Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak on the National Defense Authorization Act, an amendment I have filed, Amendment No. 2903, which supports the next generation long-range strike bomber. I hope we do get on the Defense bill. This amendment, like many of the amendments that have been filed to this bill, is both germane and noncontroversial. As has been the past practice with the Defense authorization bill, my amendment should be included in a managers' package that could be passed by unanimous consent. In the past, when the Senate has considered the National Defense Authorization Act, we have had an average of around 11 recorded votes. That is the historical average. This year so far we have had two. For amendments included by voice vote or unanimous consent, anywhere from 80 to 100 amendments tend to be the norm. In other words, that is the number of amendments that we process, not have recorded votes on, but amendments that are offered to the bill and handled one way or another but end up getting added to the legislation. This year we have not even been able to have a managers' package, which would include many of these noncontroversial amendments. I support Senator Inhofe, who is the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee and my Republican colleagues here in the Senate, in the approach they have taken while this bill has been on the floor. Considering this bill, there needs to be an open amendment process.…”