Herb Kohl: “My position therefore remains the same, and I urge Members to vote against the motion to invoke cloture. Although I am…”

“My position therefore remains the same, and I urge Members to vote against the motion to invoke cloture. Although I am urging Members to oppose the motion at hand, I do so with great reluctance. As Chairman Jeffords and I have already indicated, the District is in dire financial straits. The Chairman of the Control Board, the Mayor, and other officials agree that the city will run out of cash if the balance of the Federal payment--some $212 million--is not released within the next several weeks. We need to act, not to debate. With respect to the voucher program set forth in the conference report, the Senate has spoken. We need to respect the decision of this body and move forward to develop a legislation that will allow the city to pay its bills and operate in an orderly fashion.”