On the recordMarch 16, 2010
Mr. President, I would say to the good Senator from the State of Arizona that we have a number of amendments that are already more or less agreed to. More amendments are coming in, including several that he has mentioned. We want a chance to look at those to see whether those are--I heard one amendment, for example, that sounded pretty easy to do. The earmark amendment, I actually--I am not dissing this, but I just cannot resist but point something out; that is, on earmarks, this would ban earmarks for the foreseeable future. Let me redefine that. In the last 71 years, the Congress of the United States has not had a budget deficit in only 13 years. So you can see for the foreseeable future it is sort of a large matter. Nevertheless, we welcome the chance to look at that and work on it. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
