Joe Lieberman: “I rise to support the bill. Let me first thank my chairman, Senator Collins, for her extraordinary leadership in a good…”

“I rise to support the bill. Let me first thank my chairman, Senator Collins, for her extraordinary leadership in a good cause and in a characteristically, for her, not partisan way. I thank her for her kind words. I appreciate that she said them when I wasn't in the room. Somebody told me after I had been in Washington for a while, if somebody compliments you when you are not in the room, then you know they really mean it. I appreciate that from Senator Collins. It has been a pleasure to work with Senator Lott and Senator Dodd, my dear friend, my senior Senator from Connecticut. This has been a strong foursome. Probably there should be an alliterative ``F,'' like the faithful or ferocious foursome. But this has been an important precedent and one that has served the Senate well. We had two committees, each with jurisdiction over part of lobbying reform. The leadership worked together to meld the products of both committees so we could consider this matter. It is actually quite a valuable precedent for other large subject matter interests Members of the Senate have which often get divided into pieces based on committee jurisdiction. I am very grateful to my three colleagues, and with some real sense of pride, I rise to express strong support for the Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act on which we will vote shortly. This legislation contains very significant reforms in a number of critical areas. It ends all gifts to Members from lobbyists.…”