Trent Lott: “I wish to acknowledge the Senator's kind remarks. It was a pleasure working with him on this legislation. It has been a…”

“I wish to acknowledge the Senator's kind remarks. It was a pleasure working with him on this legislation. It has been a long time coming. I appreciate the active involvement he has had, along with other Senators on both sides of the aisle, including Senator Carper of Delaware. There is a long history of trying to get this passed freestanding through the Senate. We have to give credit to our leadership and to Senator Reid in particular. He had to make this happen. We tried last year repeatedly to get it freestanding or to get a window to offer it. We never could get it agreed to at that time. Senator Reid carved out a pretty big block of time for a Transportation bill. He didn't have to do that. He deserves credit for that. I also thank my staff, including Anne Marie Turner, who is here with me; Chris Bertram, who has been working with me for years; and Beth Spivey. Our staffs work together great. I am pleased with the Republicans who voted for it and probably all of the Democrats voted for it. I hope the House will act on this expeditiously. This could be a big step in the right direction. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their cooperation. I hope we can do more of this sort of thing in the future.”