Max Baucus: “after 4 years, the Senate is on the verge of passing a comprehensive Energy bill. This important legislation will lessen…”

“after 4 years, the Senate is on the verge of passing a comprehensive Energy bill. This important legislation will lessen America's reliance on foreign sources of energy, boost renewable resources, and provide reliable energy for the nation. Putting this legislation together and keeping it within budget constraints took hard work and perseverance. First, I thank the chairman and ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Domenici and Senator Bingaman, respectively. They provided excellent leadership, and I know their staff stayed up many a sleepless night. They played an important role developing this bill. I also thank my good friend Senator Grassley, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, for his commitment to taking a balanced approach to energy tax policy. Let me take a moment and speak about the hard work of the Finance Committee staff. The House and Senate bills took two very different approaches to tax policy. Conference negotiations were hard fought. We made some tough decisions. But we got it done within budget limits largely because we worked with a spirit of compromise and cooperation. I also thank some staff members in particular. I appreciate the cooperation we received from the Republican staff, especially Kolan Davis, Mark Prater, Elizabeth Paris, Christy Mistr, and Nick Wyatt. I thank the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation and Senate Legislative Counsel for their service.…”