As scores of union members gathered in the Statehouse halls, their cheers (and groans) sometimes echoing into a five-hour committee hearing on the question, Representative Jerry Torr, a Republican and a sponsor of the bill, said, "It's not union-busting; it strengthens the union".
That schedule provided for four hours of "call time," one to two hours of "constituent visits", two hours of committee hearings or floor votes, one hour of "strategic outreach", and one hour of "recharge time".
By the end of the hour each committee will have an agreed-upon set of proposals to present to the committee of the whole.
Within the hour, the committee had voted 21 to 8 along party lines not to allow the governor's bill to come out of committee for a vote by the entire Assembly.
But after listening to Mr. Cohen for more than an hour, the committee chairman, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, demanded a detailed work plan and timetable for specific tasks, showing how the White House would meet the Oct. 1 deadline.
"But now — now, at the 11th hour, with committee votes on schedule after Democrats have spent weeks and weeks searching for any possible reason that the nomination should be delayed — now, now, they choose to introduce this allegation," McConnell said.
After seven hours, the committee approved the bill.
Ms. Snowe gave no clue how she would vote in the first few hours of committee deliberations Tuesday and she did not alert the White House to her plans.
In its final hours, the committee also voted to modify the proposed tax on high-cost insurance policies, so fewer people would be affected.
The bill then endured an 18-hour, rancorous committee hearing that ended in a middle-of-the-night vote approving the measure, with one Republican, Representative Tom Petri of Wisconsin rejecting it.
He expanded the institution out of recognition with the application of his restless energy, intellectual rigour, exceptional contacts and many hours in committee work which is essential but all too often under-appreciated in public life.
