Tom Harkin: “A lot of effort has gone into this bill by a lot of people-- Republicans and Democrats--and, Lord knows, our staff. This…”

“A lot of effort has gone into this bill by a lot of people-- Republicans and Democrats--and, Lord knows, our staff. This bill has been germinating and being put together over the course of at least the last 3 or 4 years anyway, and probably a little before that when we started. I know Senator Durbin has been working on this for several years, as have Senator Gregg, Senator Dodd, and others. So this has all been put together over a period of several years. But I would say over the last 4 years, diligent work has gone into this bill, and certainly again in the last year. It was 1 year ago, November 18--1 year ago today--that this bill was reported out of our HELP Committee, which I chair. It was reported out without one dissenting vote. It is a bill that is supported by so many different groups and so many different people.”