Political Quotes

“on the question of fairness, this Senator spent most of the afternoon listening to the arguments of the authors of the amendment. It is not a question of fairness. This rule on the motion to table has been incorporated in the Senate rules for 200 years, and prior to that in the various colonial legislatures and prior to that in the Parliament of England. That rule has been available a long time. As one who has had to use the rules here many times, as the majority leader and as minority leader and as the majority leader again, I am very familiar with the fact that an amendment in the first degree is open to an amendment in the second degree. I am also very familiar with the fact that a motion to table the amendment in the first degree is perfectly fair. It is within the rules and it carries with it the amendment in the second degree. That is my full intention, to have the Senate vote to table both amendments at the same time. I have no compunctions about fairness. I will go home with a clear conscience tonight. The Senator from Nebraska knows the rules. Every person is assumed to know the law, and all Senators are assumed to know the rules around here. There is no rule that says, in fairness, one should not move to table the amendment in the first degree. I have never heard that. I have been in the Senate now 36 years, and I have never heard that one sprung on me.”