Patty Murray: “We awoke today to see news of a breakdown in negotiations to end the so-called nuclear confrontation that some…”

“We awoke today to see news of a breakdown in negotiations to end the so-called nuclear confrontation that some Republicans are driving this body toward. I want to take a minute to thank our leader, Senator Reid, who I believe is really doing his best to preserve the tradition and the precedent of the Senate through good-faith negotiations. He put forth a good-faith compromise proposal only to see it rejected out of hand. This breakdown really marks a sad day for this body. More than 200 years ago, the Senate was created as part of the Great Compromise, and for the balance of those 200 years, compromise has been central to any and all of the great work that has been completed by the Senate. The rules are set up here to assure that the Senate serves as a center for Government compromise. We have a system of checks and balances, with the Senate checking the President through advice and consent and the President checking the Congress with the use of the veto. And all the while we have an independent judiciary that is empowered to balance out the system. Those checks and balances were put in place for a reason. They promote compromise, they promote preservation of minority rights, and they ensure that our system of government works for all of the people. Unfortunately, the goal of some becomes clearer each passing day in this body that they are not interested in compromise on the so-called nuclear option.…”