Christopher Shays: “I want to just say very clearly that this is no one person's bill. I mean that very sincerely, because in fact there are…”

“I want to just say very clearly that this is no one person's bill. I mean that very sincerely, because in fact there are more fingerprints on this bill from Members of both sides of the aisle. I would like to take this time first to thank the gentleman from Maryland Steny Hoyer, for stepping in and taking the place of Dick Swett, who was not returned to office, who has worked on the Democratic side with me working on the Republican side, on this issue, and to thank him and his staff for doing such an excellent job in helping to draft this legislation and the legislation that passed the House earlier in this session. Also I would thank both the chairman of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight and to the new empowerment committee, both the gentleman from California [Mr. Thomas] and the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling], because they have been working on this issue for years and years and years. Without their work, and particularly, with no disrespect to the Members, but their extraordinary staff, who have weighed in tremendously on this issue, have had an amazing contribution.”