Patty Murray: “I have been in public policy for almost two decades now, and ``relevancy'' and ``germaneness'' have meant specific…”

“I have been in public policy for almost two decades now, and ``relevancy'' and ``germaneness'' have meant specific things to all of us, and we have offered relevant amendments, including the amendment I meant to offer tonight, and they have always been relevant. They have been relevant on this bill six times already, even postcloture. It seems to me now we have a definition for ``relevancy'' that is above the definition of ``germaneness,'' and that is simply unbelievable to me. I concur with the Senator, the only thing we have left is to not agree to any unanimous consent requests that use the word ``relevancy.'' But I say to my colleague, it seems to me the word ``relevancy'' is now putting a lot of people into being irrelevant: veterans, when it comes to concurrent receipt; communities that are trying very hard to keep stable, when it comes to base closures; and now women--we are all irrelevant. I find that extremely upsetting.”