On the recordFebruary 17, 2011
I wish to make a couple of observations. First of all, I apologize to all of our colleagues having to postpone cloture and precloture votes. What has happened is a number of folks have come in at the very last second and asked for changes. That is not usually the way committee business is done. We have been on this for a number of years. But we have to face the reality of that fact. We want to get cloture, and we want the bill to pass. I say to my friend from Arizona that I will work with him and with-- whether it is GAO, DOT, or whomever we decide to work with or both, which we can obviously do and which is in the legislation; the GAO is automatic for any Member--that I will work to try and resolve this problem as best as I can. There are many problems wandering around, but the basis of the bill, the structure of the bill, the overall bill is actually not just about slots. That is a relatively small part. It has been virtually all of the conversation and the debate. As Senator Hutchison pointed out, a new air traffic control system, airline safety, all kinds of other things, are so predominantly important that we have had to proceed in this way to try to accommodate our colleagues, and that we will continue to try to do.
