Political Quotes

“I reiterate what the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee said. As I said at the outset of this week and through this week, the intent is to finish this bill this week. A number of Members on both sides of the aisle have requested that we continue. If we are going to finish this bill, which we will, we will finish it tonight. The plans are to finish the bill tonight. I know there are a number of amendments. As my colleagues can see from the amendments so far, the expectations are that we will be able to defeat each amendment as it comes forward. I encourage the other side of the aisle to look at the amendments. I do not believe we have any amendments on our side of the aisle. I encourage the other side to look at their amendments. This is the first step, at least from my standpoint, in addressing this complex issue. We are taking advantage of an opportunity at this point in time to move forward in the best interest of the United States with the global health community. I can tell the Senator this is not the bill I started with, and myself, Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, and a number of us have worked on a whole range of bills--the Lugar-Biden, Biden-Lugar bill. We are going to have plenty of opportunity to address this issue. This little virus, I have said again and again, is going to be with us for the next 30 years.”