Kerry’s statement in the Dem ANWR press conference

Text of John Kerry’s statement in the press conference:

KERRY: In the 21 years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the Senate occasionally try to break rules but never, I think, as egregiously as this.

There is a question on everybody’s mind, which is, what are we doing here, five days before Christmas Eve, six days before Christmas — what are we doing, when there have been weeks of vacations, days off? And here we are in the last-moment crunch, confronting a bill that could have been passed months ago.

The Republican leadership itself has said what they’re doing is wrong. Those are their own words.

Well, we’re going to stand up against what is wrong and we’re going to do what’s right, both for the Senate, for the Congress, for our government and for our troops.

There are a lot of options along the way which the Senate could choose to do the right thing, the most important of which will be for our colleagues to stand up and vote against this change.

Let’s be very clear about what’s happening here. Republicans, Senator Stevens in particular, are putting oil companies ahead of our troops.

We could have passed the Defense bill three months ago, but first the president held it up because they were advocating torture.

Now Senator Stevens is holding it up to advocate drilling for oil, which will have almost zero impact on the oil supplies and independence of our country.

For all the talk about supporting our troops, this is a really strange way to support them.

Not long ago, Senator Stevens took the floor to defend what some have called his bridge to nowhere. He spoke about the importance of respecting the legislative process. And many of us voted with him to support that process. We listened to his words when he urged us to not disrespect any individual senator or their rights here.

We would ask him to go back and reread those words and heed them and reconsider his decision to hold up this important bill for our troops.

What’s going on here is just simply not right. Sometimes there is a clear line between right and wrong in everything that is done, and particularly what we do here. This is not right.

We may disagree on the merits of drilling for oil in the refuge. I’ve been fighting that for 21 years that I’ve been here. But this is not just about the oil, it’s not about just the Arctic. This is about keeping faith with our troops and getting the help and support that they need as fast as possible, and it’s about preserving the integrity of the legislative process.

The fact is that five retired generals are imploring the Senate to take ANWR out of the Defense bill, saying, quote, “It is not helpful and only invites delay for our troops.”

So the bottom line is that this bill should not become a last-minute vehicle that derails its fundamental purpose.

Senator McCain got it right when he called this maneuver “disgusting.”

The Military Reserve Officers Association has said, “We’re concerned that insertion of any divisive, nondefense-related issues at the last minute could further delay enactment of this crucial legislation.”

Make no mistake: It is the insertion of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge drilling, it is the breaking of the rules by the Republicans, that is delaying the effort to get this bill passed for our troops.

This practice, in my judgment, does a disservice to the troops and does a disservice to the rules of the United States Senate.

We’re on the brink of a new ethic here. We’ve heard it with the nuclear option. This is a mini-nuclear option, where, on any given issue, some are willing to use any means to justify the ends of absolute victory over whoever and whatever stands in the way.

And the new view says, “If you don’t like the facts, just change them; if you can’t win by the rules, then change them.” The new view says it’s OK to just ignore the overwhelming public interest.

And what this amounts to, in my judgment, is a breach of the honor of the Senate and of the tradition and history of the United States Senate.

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1461

What was he referring to when he said that the Repub leadership admitted that it was wrong (to be holding up the bill this way). Does anyone know who said what? I can't imagine Frist saying anything that conciliatory.