John Cornyn: “we have been on this bill for about 2\1/ 2\ weeks. We find ourselves in a very strange position where we have had votes…”

“we have been on this bill for about 2\1/ 2\ weeks. We find ourselves in a very strange position where we have had votes on 10 amendments, and now Senators are talking about clearing another 45 amendments 2 days before the majority leader has basically set a deadline and said we are going to be through with this bill one way or the other. This strikes me as a strange way to do business, but here we are. I have always believed that even though you want something--and in this case I believe virtually every Senator in this Chamber wants an immigration bill--that you can want something so bad and be so desperate that you will get a bad deal. I think we are beginning to see some elements in this bill, which I want to talk about briefly, that I think ought to give all of us pause and cause us to wonder whether this is the way we should be doing business. One of the things my constituents in Texas found so infuriating about the process of passing the Affordable Care Act--all 2,700 pages--was the way there were backroom deals and various special interest boondoggles that helped garner the 60 votes necessary to pass ObamaCare back in 2010. Some of them became somewhat famous. There was the ``Cornhusker kickback,'' ``Gator aid,'' and the ``Louisiana purchase.'' They became symbols of Congress's irresponsibility when it came to discharging our duties as Members of the Senate.…”