Political Quotes

“over the course of Friday, through the weekend and through today, we have been discussing the process for consideration of the marriage amendment. We have had a good discussion, good debate in the Senate both Friday and today in talking about the substance of the underlying amendment. There has been frustration expressed on the other side of the aisle that we had not agreed to their unanimous consent agreement. This started discussions within the last week of a proposal that had been made to have debate and then a vote on the one amendment. I appreciate both sides of the aisle talking, trying to bring this to appropriate closure. As majority leader, as I told the assistant Democratic leader at the end of last week, I thought it was very important to consult the rest of my colleagues beginning Friday afternoon. We had the discussion Friday and into today. After consultation with my colleagues, I found there is great interest in offering one amendment which is literally a one-sentence amendment. The Democratic leader has made statements in the Senate and made mention that the overall process could take a long period of time. I disagree. I don't think this needs to be a long, arduous process. From this side of the aisle, we have offered an agreement that allows for two votes, one on the Allard amendment and then a one-sentence amendment. We are giving the other side of the aisle both of those amendments. This does not have to be a difficult process.”