On the recordFebruary 22, 2010
before the majority leader leaves the floor, I want to say to him that today jobs triumphed over politics. That is a great day around here. Jobs triumphed over politics. I want to say to Senator Reid, this idea you have to keep these bills very straightforward and very easy to understand, this bill, four parts to it, two parts dealt with infrastructure, two parts dealt with tax breaks that were related to making capital investments and hiring unemployed workers, is very simple for people to understand. I have to say to my Democratic colleagues, 57 of whom voted for this, thank you. And to the five Republicans who joined us, thank you so much. It means so much to the working families of this country, to the business community. I want to say a special word to Senator Lautenberg if he is watching. I know how strongly he supports transportation. He is kind of Mr. Transportation in New Jersey. We all wish him well. We know he would have been here if there was any way for him to be here. I will not say any more than I said before. I want to thank specific people out there around the country whom I talked to on several conference calls over this break. They were always there. Night and day we talked. I explained to them how close this vote would be. They explained to me that they understood what the stakes were, a million jobs at stake in relation to the highway trust fund, thousands more at stake in relation to the Build America bonds. This is a good day.
