Political Quotes

“I want to say that everything the chairman has said is absolutely correct. Of course, the committee can meet with the consent of everyone willing to do so. I appreciate him and his willingness to do that. I will say one of the members--I am actually speaking through the Chair to the chairman, if I could. I just had one of the members on the floor walk by and share with me that he really was not going to ask for a vote on amendments; he just wanted to share some thoughts but was going to pull them. I understand how the chairman would want to pull down a committee meeting if there were going to be lots of amendments, and I assure you I had no idea there would be any amendments. But I know some people brought some forward. My sense is that there may not have been a desire to have a vote on those, especially based on one of the Senators on our committee just walking by and sharing that with me. So what I might do in the interim is get on the phone and see if the committee members who had amendments actually wanted a vote on those or just wanted to express concerns. Maybe it is possible, within the time left, to handle this in a way that works for all. But I very much appreciate the chairman's willingness. I want to say to him again that I had no idea people had amendments to offer. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.”