Kay Bailey Hutchison: “the first reason to vote no on this motion to proceed is that we have no ability to amend or an alternative that would…”

“the first reason to vote no on this motion to proceed is that we have no ability to amend or an alternative that would be allowed by the majority to reflect a different point of view. When I hear people on the other side say don't let the minority thwart the efforts of the majority, what the majority is saying is we only want one resolution, our resolution. Whatever happened to amendments? Whatever happened to the ability to have alternative resolutions? This is the tenth time in this very short period that this Congress has been in session that cloture has been used to stifle minority rights. It is unprecedented in this body. I hope we will go to a time when the Senate will be able to work together in a bipartisan way, agree and disagree civilly, have the ability to exercise minority rights, and then have a majority vote. We don't have to have only one procedure that allows for one view but does not allow for alternatives and amendments. That is not the way the Senate is supposed to operate. The second reason to vote no on this motion is the resolution itself. The resolution says we support the troops who are there now and the troops who were there in the past but not those who will come in the future. Presumably the majority is saying that we will not support future troops because they don't support the President's plan. But troops who are rotating in to replace troops leaving would also not be supported.”