Orrin Hatch: “I suppose that it is appropriate that we are passing this bill just a week before Halloween. It seems as though we have…”

“I suppose that it is appropriate that we are passing this bill just a week before Halloween. It seems as though we have spent the better part of five days trying to unmask its provisions. And, some of the sections have been like ghosts--first you see them, now you don't. I confess that I share the frustration voiced by many of my colleagues yesterday from both sides of the aisle about this extremely unorthodox process. I suppose it is somewhat reassuring that Senators on both sides of the aisle are similarly put off by the process because perhaps then we will not inflict it on ourselves or the American people next year. Let me start with the fact that, at least technically, it is out of order to authorize on an appropriations bill. We have from time to time bent that rule--sometimes quite liberally. But, today, we not only bent it, we smashed it to smithereens. I admit to having tried to amend appropriations bills with authorizations during my tenure in the Senate, but I am quickly coming around to the notion that we must get back to a stricter adherence to that particular rule of the Senate.”