U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts has moved in recent days to the center of the fight over John Bolton’s nomination as ambassador to the United Nations.

“It is high time we vote on this nomination, up or down, whichever way the chips fall,” Roberts, R-Kan., said in a speech Wednesday on the Senate floor.

Democrats have vowed to prevent a vote on Bolton’s nomination until they can learn if the names of three dozen U.S. officials were included in National Security Agency intercepts Bolton requested in his previous posts. Democrats have said they want assurances Bolton did not misuse his power to seek information about the officials.

Access to such classified information is limited. Roberts – chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee – is one of the few senators with sufficient clearance to view the classified documents in question. On Tuesday, though, he notified colleagues that the Democrats’ request for information was overly broad.

“I am prepared to assist in any reasonable effort to examine the facts,” Roberts said in a press release, “but an examination of upwards of 40 names appears to be an effort to preserve the issue, not to resolve it.”

When the impasse continued Wednesday, Roberts took to the Senate floor to assure his colleagues that “Mr. Bolton’s (classified information) requests were not only appropriate, but routine.”

Roberts said Democrats had not shared their entire list of names with him.

But Roberts added that, in an effort to reach compromise on the matter, he had confirmed with intelligence officials that seven individuals named by Democrats in public and official statements had not been included in the intercepts seen by Bolton.

That information “should more than satisfy the concerns of my colleagues,” Roberts said, according to a transcript of remarks released by his office. “Unless, of course, they are not interested in being satisfied.”

They were not satisfied.

“For Senator Roberts to decide on our behalf what we should be concerned about is most unusual,” said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said he will push for a public vote on Bolton’s nomination by the end of the week.