Political Quotes

“I am going to make a few comments here. I thank Senator Inhofe through the Presiding Officer for working with me. I realize there is a lot happening here, and I know he is conducting to the best of his ability the progression of this bill. I will just leave it at that. Mr. President, I was asked to find a solution to this blue-slip issue, and I found one that is used as customarily as waking up in the morning and drinking a cup of coffee. It happens all the time. This in no way has any effect on our ability to pass the NDAA in a timely fashion, but I am in no way countering the person who just spoke. I am not, and he knows I am not. I am going to speak to a larger issue, but before I do, I want to point out that the NDAA usually passes each year in November or December. It usually doesn't pass in June. So even if there were something that needed to be worked out, we would be way ahead of schedule in dealing with this as we are between now and August. But if I could, the germaneness of these bills has nothing whatsoever to do with our ability to offer amendments--nothing. That is something that happens postcloture. For the last year and a half, under Leader McConnell, we have had one amendment vote--one amendment vote--and that amendment wasn't even really an amendment. It was a chairman who was controlling his own bill and asking if he could substitute his own amendment. So it really wasn't even a real amendment vote.…”