Joe Barton: “I do not think it is a surprise that I rise in strong support of the Barton manager's amendment, since I am the Barton…”

“I do not think it is a surprise that I rise in strong support of the Barton manager's amendment, since I am the Barton who authored the amendment. But I just want to tell my good friend from Massachusetts, whom I just listened to extremely closely as he told his tale of woe about his amendment being accepted in committee and not accepted in the manager's amendment, we found out, as we went to implement it, that there were some things we did not understand about his amendment. Now, I am sure the gentleman explained it clearly and concisely, and I was probably listening to one of my staffers and probably just did not hear his explanation, but it was actually retroactive in application. Madam Chairman, had we accepted it and put it in the manager's amendment, there would have been an immediate outcry to implement some standards that were not yet implementable because it would have been retroactive. That is the primary reason it is not in the manager's amendment. As we go to conference, we will continue to work with the distinguished gentleman, and we probably can find some way to get some part of it in in the conference. But that is the primary reason that particular amendment is not in the manager's amendment.”