Peter:
Thank you for the note. Outside of complaints that we should not do review at all, not a single issue with the Conference Committee version was raised by Senators at yesterday's meeting. Furthermore, it was shown by our legal experts to be consistent with OAR/IMDs. So it was odd for me to see someone in one breath say, "we have to make a decision" and in the next breath say that meant sending this to another committee.
So I will be interested to see what issues the Senate Executive Committee sees with it, as they now attempt to devise a new version.
I add that the vote to send the issue to yet another committee was taken with roughly a dozen senators in the room. Certainly not a quorum. I wonder if the entire body might have decided instead to "make a decision" and accept the Conference Committee version.
Yes, I will continue to work with you. But this will not be a simple task. Trying to reconcile two versions (along with the existing version, per Joe Stone) will necessarily mean that you will have to blend documents with radically different tones and purposes. I worry greatly that developmental nature of the Conference Committee policy will be lost in this process, and with it, the support of the Senate as a whole.
Mike