Newt Gingrich: “let me start by saying I think this is truly a historic evening and that I want to thank everyone on both sides who made…”

“let me start by saying I think this is truly a historic evening and that I want to thank everyone on both sides who made this possible. It took a tremendous amount of effort both here and in the other body and in the executive branch. It took a bipartisan effort. I want to particularly single out Mr. Obey and all of his staff and all the members of his committee on the Democratic side who worked so hard, and I want to thank Chairman Livingston and his members and his staff who worked so hard. I want to pick up a little bit on what Mr. Obey said. Leon Panetta was up here, our former colleague, for 2 nights, until, I think, 4:30 one night and until 7 a.m. the next, working to get this done, not to drag it out, not to get into some kind of a mess, not to hang around for an extra 10 days, but to get it done and to get it done in a very detailed, very thorough and, I think, remarkably bipartisan way. This Congress may at times have been very partisan. In the last week I think we have truly pulled the wagon together, the American people's wagon, in a remarkably solid way. I also have to say that John Hiley did a very able job representing the President.”