Tom Harkin: “we are finally at the finish line at the end of a legislative triathalon. It's been a long, difficult road, but we've…”

“we are finally at the finish line at the end of a legislative triathalon. It's been a long, difficult road, but we've finally come up with a health and education appropriations bill for this fiscal year. It truly was a test of endurance. Not only can we take pride in having survived the experience, but, even more importantly, we've produced a bipartisan agreement that is a victory for the health and education of our nation. This agreement is not only a model for giving our nation the building blocks we need for a strong and secure future. It is a model of how Democrats and Republicans can work together across party lines to do what is the best interest of the American people. Believe me, it hasn't been easy. Before the election, Senator Stevens, Senate Byrd, Senator Specter, and I, along with Congressmen Bill Young, Dave Obey, and John Porter worked for months to craft a solid bipartisan agreement. At times the negotiations got heated, but both sides hung in there, and in the end we came up with a good compromise. That bipartisan agreement would have passed overwhelmingly in both the House and the Senate--which is why we were all just baffled when, less than 12 hours after we had signed our names to the bill, a tiny faction of the House Republican leadership decided to kill it. As a result, some reductions had to be made, some of which were very disappointing.…”