Political Quotes

“So there are issues of policy dealing with transparency, dealing with the production of records by the attorneys who are involved in this. When you read one of these editorials, the one in today's Hill, "Unconscionable Cobell," written by a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Number of published court opinions in the case: 80-plus Amount awarded to plaintiffs by courts at present: $0 Amount to attorneys under settlement: $100 Million. . . . Amount to each account holder under [this] settlement: We are talking now about those who have been affected by this-- $1,000.00 What an incredible disparity. Well, if we were all to take the time to look through these two editorials, the changes to the settlement I have been proposing would not only seem reasonable, they would be absolutely necessary. They point out several real problems with the settlement, including the way the attorneys' fees are handled. I am continuing to work with my colleagues on dealing with that. These are the blunt facts. So I agree with my colleague from North Dakota, the problems with the Cobell settlement are by no means insurmountable. They can and they must be resolved. In fact, I do not think it would be difficult to resolve the differences we have regarding the Cobell settlement. We can sit down, and we plan to do that, to discuss the issues directly. I think we can get beyond this impasse, and that is what I am committed to do. I yield the floor.”