This is the sort of story that makes you chuckle, because it should be in the Onion, and not in the pages of our political press. However, I digress. Today, according to a report in The Hill, Senator Lieberman asked that the Senate not tack unrelated amendments onto his cybersecurity bill [Condensed by TNW]:
“We can get this bill done and protect our security. Nobody believes we’re going to repeal ObamaCare this week or we’re going to adopt gun control legislation. I appeal to my colleagues on both sides to hold back on these irrelevant amendments. There are already more than 70 amendments filed that are germane or relevant.”
It’s difficult to pick which part of that is the best. I would vote that the petition to keep amendments on topic is slightly beaten out by the fact that seventy amendments have already been filed that don’t cross the line. Seventy. That’s staggering.
TNW has reported several times on the importance of amendments to the bill, as they represent its only pathway to passage in the Senate, and the House. However, the amount of work that remains to be done is significant. Thus, amendments. It is our gut check is that in the next 48 hours the majority of the horsetrading will occur. Just how serious the proposers of adding the entire SECURE IT Act to the bill are is something that we are unsure of.
Lieberman, however, is putting on a brave face: “I would say what was once a wide chasm separating us is now a narrow ridge, which we can bridge.”
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