Monday, June 4, 2007

Summary of today's Senate debate: No amendments were voted on. A number of Senators--including Sessions (R-AL), Bingaman (D-NM), Kyl (R-AZ) and Domenici (R-NM)--spoke, proposing amendments and offering various reflections on the bill. The specter of the "killer amendment" (one that might disrupt the coalition holding the "grand bargain" together) was raised a number of times--Sen. Domenici (a supporter of the bill) particularly belabored the risks to the coalition in the amendment process. Though some have expressed optimism for the future of the present bill, there still seems to be some uncertainty about the ultimate strength of the coalition. At least at the margins of their debates.
Tomorrow, more amendments will probably come up. More on those then.