Mike Crapo: “it is an honor for me to participate in this debate, not only because of the importance of this legislation, which I…”

“it is an honor for me to participate in this debate, not only because of the importance of this legislation, which I will talk about in a minute, but because of the process which has brought us here and what the public is now observing. As for the last little while, they have observed leaders on both sides of the aisle talk in support of a highly contentious issue that we have been trying to bring to resolution in this country for years. Today, we have before the Senate a bipartisan solution, one that is the result of literally years of effort by a number of Senators who I will mention, and the result of a collaborative effort to bring together the Senators from various perspectives and negotiate an outcome that would have the common ground to build positive solutions for the future and much more benefit to all sides than the conflict which has been so much a part of this issue over the last few years.”