Reid promises he'll allow an open amendment process on Defense Authorization bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday night that he’d like to move on to the Defense Authorization Act by the end of this week.

Reid said that after the Senate finishes business on the Sportsmen’s Act, S. 3525, which would increase access to federal land for hunters and fishermen while also supporting conservation measures, it would then move on to the consideration of the Defense Authorization Act.

“This is something we have to do now because it changes policy for our fighting men and women around the world,” Reid said Wednesday night after the Senate failed to advance the Cybersecurity Act. “We’re going to move to the bill.”

The Defense Authorization Act funds U.S. military operations. Reid said he’d allow an open amendment process on the bill because Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) agreed to wade through and table all the non-germane amendments offered.

“If we move to the bill we’ll have an open amendment process on this bill,” Reid said. “We would start legislating on this bill the day we get back after the Thanksgiving break.”

Republicans have criticized Reid for filling the amendment tree and not having an open amendment process on all votes.

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