Mitch Landrieu: “as we move to final passage on this bill, I again thank my ranking member for his very extraordinary and dedicated work…”

“as we move to final passage on this bill, I again thank my ranking member for his very extraordinary and dedicated work over the weeks and months to bring this bill to the floor and to work out many important and challenging issues. Together, we have tried to focus our efforts on post-control board financial discipline and laying a foundation so that the District, which is in a surplus today because of a lot of hard work that has been done, will remain in a surplus. Together, we have tried to enhance local decisionmaking, where appropriate. I believe we have made a lot of progress along that line. In addition, particularly with Senator DeWine's excellent leadership, we are reforming the child welfare system in the District and working with the mayor and the local government officials to do that. We have put significant investments in this bill to accomplish that end. In addition, because of the September 11 attack, we have provided additional resources for the mayor and the local government and for regional public officials--our own Senators representing Virginia and Maryland--of course, to be a part of that to enhance the security of the District and this region.”