https://youtube.com/watch?v=caM_BZfzIGc
Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah) took to the floor of the Senate this evening to attack S.B. 744, the “Gang of Eight” immigration reform bill. In a theatrical exchange with fellow S.B. 744 opponent Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), Lee called the amending process as it has been conducted for the bill “appalling” and “repugnant to the system of government under which we’re supposed to be operating.” The freshman senator and tea-party favorite summarized the message from Senate leaders in both parties as follows: “be good senators, run along, and stay out of trouble; we’re taking care of this, and we’ll send you legislation as soon we’re ready.” He then decried the corresponding tendency of his colleagues to vote “enthusiastically, willingly, and hardly without [sic] a whimper of objection to legislation that they had never seen . . . legislation that they were familiar with only to the extent that it had been summarized for them.” Referencing the speed with which S.B. 744 has moved through the chamber, Senator Lee asked rhetorically, “Is there anything we can do to make this a real legislative body and not a rubber stamp?”