Political Quotes

“I think the Senator is making a valuable point. I don't believe there is any justification for the process stopping today. I would say it is convenient to say to the press and the American people: A big development has occurred. Everything is on hold. We are going to move this amendment. It is going to fix everything that you are concerned about. That is part of the drive, the vision, the message being put out here. I suspect a number of Senators--maybe in the majority party particularly--felt like they didn't want to vote on these 16 amendments. Some of them would actually make the bill work better. Some of them have some tough law enforcement provisions in them, tough in the sense they are fair and will work and actually tighten this system that is so out of control, and they didn't want to vote on those amendments. So I am sure maybe they complained to the distinguished majority leader and others. But all I know is that we were moving along. People were saying from the other side let's get some votes. I said I am ready to vote. Let's vote. So agreements were being reached, and all of a sudden it stopped--on one favored amendment. That is what we are all focused on today. I agree with Senator Lee that somehow all of us are supposed to be equal in this spot, that one Senator is not supposed to be better than the others, and we all ought to be able to come to the floor and offer a legitimate amendment, debate it, and get a vote.”