On the recordJune 22, 2011
I rise to speak on the same topic the Senator from Illinois was speaking about; that is, the discussions taking place right now around the debt ceiling vote and what kind of arrangement or what kind of agreement can take place. These are called the Blair House negotiations. They are happening between the Vice President of the United States--the actual President of the Senate when he is here--and leaders on both the Republican and Democratic side of the House and Senate. What I wish to speak about today stems from reading some of the public comments. I am concerned the type of deal they may be trying to seek is not something many of us in this body would even agree to if they reached it, meaning it is far more modest than I think most of us have been looking at. It is my understanding they are going to be meeting all week. It is my understanding they had hoped to reach an agreement by next week. So my reason for coming to the floor is to ask the Vice President and those others who are involved in this to publicly tell us by the end of next week what deal it is they are trying to accomplish and in what timeframe. I think all of us are frustrated. We work in the Senate, and as the Senator from Illinois was just mentioning, we have done absolutely nothing in this body this year--nothing.…
