On the recordMarch 11, 2010
Madam President, I thank the Senator from Kansas for his very cogent remarks. Kansas probably is the airplane center of the country, if not the world. The point he makes is that it is bipartisan and that we have been working on it a long time. Anybody can come down and offer extraneous amendments. We don't preclude that in our system. It is possible under the Senate rules. It is also possible under the Senate rules to make extraneous amendments unacceptable and unactionable. I think what we want to do is try to avoid some of those processes. I know the leaders on both sides are trying to figure out a way to deal with this problem of extraneous amendments. If it has to do with aviation, we are all for it. If people simply want to talk about subjects they care about but not offer amendments, that is fine. If people want to offer aviation amendments, please come forward. Those are important. This is a 3- to 4-year effort we have been on, trying to do an aviation bill. The Presiding Officer certainly understands the consequences of aviation delays and all the rest of it. It is something we have to do as a country and we cannot dally. This is not the Senate acting in its finest tradition. We have a chance to change that, and I hope the Members will cooperate in that effort. I thank the Chair and note the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
