Heidi Alexander: “I thank the Senator from North Dakota for her eloquent statement and for her leadership. I am delighted that she has…”

“I thank the Senator from North Dakota for her eloquent statement and for her leadership. I am delighted that she has gone from being a caption on a lawsuit to a Senator who can help us pass this bill. In just a moment I will yield the leadership of this colloquy to the assistant Democratic leader, but I wish to say a word about the next Senator speaking and about Senator Durbin as well. Senator Mike Enzi is the real pioneer on the Marketplace Fairness Act. He knows what he is talking about. He is a shoestore owner from Wyoming. He knows what it is like for someone to come in and try on a pair of shoes and then go home and order them on the Internet and disadvantage a smalltown owner of a shoestore as compared with an out- of-State business. He has diligently and systematically lead this fight the whole time, and it was due to that diligence that the Senate had this overwhelming bipartisan achievement one year ago today. I thank him for his leadership. Now I recognize the assistant Democratic leader. The truth of the matter is, the way the Senate works, we would never have been able to pass this in the Senate with such fine fashion if it hadn't been for the leadership of the assistant Democratic leader, Senator Durbin of Illinois. I thank him very much for his leadership and congratulate him for it, and I am glad to turn the leadership of the colloquy over to him. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.”