John Cornyn: “I first wish to raise the concern I have that this extraordinarily complex piece of legislation, I have been advised…”

“I first wish to raise the concern I have that this extraordinarily complex piece of legislation, I have been advised that this 342-page bill we have on our desks that we all assumed was the working document to which we have been drafting amendments, is actually not going to be the document we are going to be working from as early as this afternoon. I have been informed--and I ask colleagues whether this is, in fact, the case--that there is actually another bill, not 342 pages long but 491 pages long, that will be laid down this afternoon by Senator Boxer. It is very difficult for any of us to be prepared when the target continues to move. To those who are concerned, as the Senator from California and the majority leader have been about the speed with which we address this bit of legislation, this does nothing but slow us down and make our job harder. I hope that is not the case, but that is what I am reliably informed. To me, it is counterintuitive to say the least that we would undertake to pass legislation with a pricetag of $6.7 trillion that will actually raise gas prices by 147 percent when families in my State and across the country are already paying an extra $1,400 a year for gas prices as a result of congressional inaction.”