Trent Lott: “I don't want to repeat everything that has been said here because we do have the need to move forward. We have some…”

“I don't want to repeat everything that has been said here because we do have the need to move forward. We have some amendments we need to dispose of, but let me take a minute to comment as to Senator Dodd and Senator Lieberman and Senator Collins and their leadership and the way we work together. I wish to do that by reminding you a little bit of history. When we started off this year, there were problems that were reflecting on the Congress and the way we do business--the Abramoff matter, as Senator Lieberman has described. There was a feeling that we needed to address some of those concerns. We needed to take a look at our lobbying laws and the rules of the institution. There was a concern about, was this going to be a panic reaction? Was this going to be everybody taking their partisan positions and not ever actually getting anything done, just looking for political advantage? That could have been what happened, but that is not what happened. It started off by strong leadership on both sides of the aisle. Senator Santorum was designated by Majority Leader Frist to pull together a task force to begin working on issues that needed to be addressed, and solutions. Senator Reid stepped right out and started developing a package on the Democratic side. By the way, I think one of the ways we came to the point where we are is that there were some good things in the Reid proposal.…”