Barbara Boxer: “I would like to say to Senator Enzi that I agree with so much of what he said. Our being here on New Year's Eve, some of…”

“I would like to say to Senator Enzi that I agree with so much of what he said. Our being here on New Year's Eve, some of us without our families, is nothing to be proud of, and having been able to do our work through the committee system, I think he made a very good point. Enzi and Kennedy were quite a team; Baucus and Grassley had their successes; Levin and McCain recently had their success on the Defense bill, with lots of amendments; Boxer and Inhofe on the Transportation bill. I can tell you, you couldn't find two people more different, and yet Senator Inhofe and I were able to do that work and get that done and protect 2 to 3 million jobs. And also Stabenow and Roberts in the Agriculture Committee. So my friend is absolutely right; we can do this in the right way and not have to be here in the middle of the night. I don't think that is anything to be proud of. However, I do believe what we did early this morning was right and very important. I think Senators Durbin and Brown laid it out as to why that vote was so critically important: It protected our families, it gave certainty to our businesses, and it keeps this economy moving forward. All this is true if the House passes this bill. As Senator Enzi said so eloquently and in such a straightforward fashion, this is a deal. Each of us could write our own deal, and each of us would be so much happier with a deal that we personally could write. But that is not the way it is.…”