John Cornyn: “I do think he protests too much. This simple amendment--which would take us 15 minutes to vote on, if allowed to do…”

“I do think he protests too much. This simple amendment--which would take us 15 minutes to vote on, if allowed to do so--has to do with more than just a simple disagreement with what General Petraeus has said. This is a direct attack, impugning the character of this distinguished member of the U.S. Army. It is not simply a poor choice of words. The Senator from Illinois said: I do not subscribe to that point of view. If we would have an opportunity to vote on my amendment, his vote in favor of my amendment would, in fact, confirm what he has already said on the floor--that it is a poor choice of words and he does not subscribe to that point of view. At the same time he asked: We are on the Transportation appropriations bill. Why are we talking about this now? Well, frankly, there are a lot of people who think the global war on terrorism and our success or failure in Iraq are just as important--I would submit more important--than an appropriations bill.”