Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as the Senator from West Virginia notes, the only change in mine safety law that was made was with his and my leadership and several others. That was the first change in 30 years. I know he is aware that in the area of OSHA, the only legislative changes that have been made in the 28 years the law has existed were under my chairmanship, with me as a major sponsor. So I am interested in safety. The Republicans weren't invited to work on a bipartisan bill until 2 weeks before the August recess. We had our staffs work through the entire recess. There were numerous meetings. We were making great process. I think we had agreed on 14 different parts or so. We still had six or so provisions that were in the process of negotiation, but very close, and seven or so that the Senators themselves would have to work out. So I am disappointed that was called off. It was not called off by my staff. I think we could have had a bipartisan bill that would wind up unanimous on this side like the last one, with only a few objections on the House side. So I am disappointed my colleague is attempting to bring up a bill with no bipartisan support at this late stage of the Senate schedule. They went back to the original one, not the one we have been negotiating. If the majority truly wanted to pass a bill on this issue, we would have continued those bipartisan negotiations, or they could have taken this bill through the Senate procedure and allowed a hearing and a markup on the bill.…”