Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, did not name conferees Monday because severe storms slowed some East Coast lawmakers' returns to Washington and because some lawmakers attended Virginia Tech services for the shooting victims, her office said.
"We need the conferees in order to make progress on the bill," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will join Mrs. Pelosi and other congressional leaders at a White House meeting with President Bush today.
Patience also wore thin among Senate Democrats assigned two weeks ago to the conference committee that will reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the $100 billion bill.
"We are going to be talking about that and trying to put some pressure on bringing that [conference committee] about," Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii Democrat and member of the conference committee, said on his way to the party's weekly policy luncheon.
"I'm hoping we can do that sooner because it is something that we need to decide," said Mr. Inouye, chairman of the Appropriations defense subcommittee.
Really, you think? Nice to see that there's an appropriate sense of urgency in the Democratic leadership...
In case you were wondering, after a two-week Spring Break, Nancy Pelosi still hasn't gotten around to naming the conferees who can then begin crafting a House/Senate compromise on the emergency supplemental.
