Orrin Hatch: “over the last few months I have come to the floor several times to discuss the need for the Senate to return to regular…”

“over the last few months I have come to the floor several times to discuss the need for the Senate to return to regular order. If the last several years taught us anything, it is that efforts to force legislation through the Senate without full and fair consideration tend to yield unsatisfying results. Complaints about the lack of bipartisanship have more or less become the norm around here, and we hear all the time about the desire for the so-called grand bargains. Bipartisan agreements don't just happen. I think we would all agree grand bargains cannot be made out of thin air. Luckily the Senate already has a system in place for fostering these types of agreements. It is called regular order. Yet today the Senate will vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act, and in doing so, the Senate will once again abandon regular order in favor of the whims of the Senate Democratic leadership. This is a bill that falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee, but the committee has not had a markup on the bill. Instead the Marketplace Fairness Act is just the latest in a long line of bills brought before the full Senate without due consideration in the committee of jurisdiction. This has become far too common.…”