Political Quotes

“But now I say to all colleagues, we are entering into that phase which I have called in previous iterations of the highway bill, the ``battle of the charts.'' And the charts are coming over the transom, under the transom, and from all directions. And it comes down to whether or not someone can put up a matrix which benefits their State a little bit more. But I assure you, it is at the detriment of someone else. And you have to at some point, when the votes come, decide: Did the committee or did not the committee try and do an equitable distribution of the funds? The basic bill reported out by the subcommittee, then by the full committee, is unchanged. But in working out the most equitable distribution we could under the add-on, as a consequence of the Byrd-Gramm-Baucus-Warner amendment, you could figure it several different ways. And therein I presume the debate will focus in just such time as we proceed to vote on this amendment.”