(BrightPress.org) – Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) left a Homeland Security Committee meeting after the Democrats kept harassing them with secondary and tertiary amendments. For the uninitiated an amendment alters a piece of legislation, it’s typically offered and voted on after debate. A secondary amendment is an amendment to an amendment and it rarely occurs unless one side is attempting to obstruct the other. Senator Paul got frustrated, as every amendment offered in Committee was being altered by Democratic secondary amendments instead of coming to the floor for an actual vote.
The Democratic man-child responsible was Senator Gary Peter (D-MI) who abrogated every Republican amendment to the Fire Grants and Safety Act. Peters and Paul then squabbled over the rules and protocols particular to the amendment process. Ultimately, Paul suggested Republicans walk out, as it seemed the Democrats weren’t willing to operate in good faith.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) attempted to quell the conflict by suggesting folks calm down and investigate what the actual protocol is. Curious how Senators don’t seem to understand the proper protocol. Introducing, debating, and passing legislation is literally their job after all. She urged folks to avoid slipping into partisanship, but it wasn’t enough to save the day.
Paul pointed out that the offering of amendments had gone back and forth such that Democrats were attempting to amend an amendment to an amendment, as opposed to voting. Paul was upset that every amendment being offered by the Republicans was amended by the Democrats, he suggested it was the first time that such a thing had happened to every single amendment they offered.
He expressed frustration that the standard procedure is to simply vote on amendments instead of attempting to obstruct the process with procedural miasma and partisan games. Calling it “legislative legerdemain” Paul suggested that the intention of the second and third-degree amendments was to avoid having a vote on Republican amendments.
Illustrating the fact, Democrats attempted to alter an amendment that would prevent NIH funds from going to gain of function research to something that would prevent those same funds from going to “a Chinese fire department.” Paul pointed out how ridiculous and nonsensical their suggestion was before walking out.
Copyright 2023, BrightPress.org
