Russ Feingold: “I suggest that is one way that a person can come to the conclusion that the Senate should operate this way. However…”

“I suggest that is one way that a person can come to the conclusion that the Senate should operate this way. However, there are others who would believe that government sometimes has to stop things that are bad that other levels of government or perhaps the other body would want done. I ask the Senator if he does not agree that the Senate has a role from another philosophical point of view; I think it is called the ``saucer'' that Thomas Jefferson spoke of, the saucer that goes with the cup in order to cool the Senate. Whether this reflects a belief that government does not have a function, or whether it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Senate is supposed to be, I wonder if the Senator would react.”