Dear Colleagues,
I want to thank Senator Lee for encouraging discussion among our members about the path
forward for our conference. Mike makes some interesting points, and he has provided us with
more food for thought as we approach the election of a new conference leader.
It may be true that many Americans would be shocked to know that members may not be able to
offer amendments. I suspect many Americans would also be shocked to know that any one
member can grind the legislative process to a halt while attempting to advance an amendment
that a supermajority of our conference is against. I have witnessed several occasions when we
were on the brink of working out a comprehensive agreement to consider dozens of amendments
only to have it fail because a single member or a handful of members objected—the tree gets
filled, no amendments are considered, and everybody gets angry.