Frank Lautenberg: “I will continue to extend congratulations to some who are not here. I have to take my time to salute the efforts of…”

“I will continue to extend congratulations to some who are not here. I have to take my time to salute the efforts of Senator Daschle, who was ever present in his encouragement to get this job done--let's see what we can negotiate together, let's see if we can make this adjustment or that adjustment, or talked to his counterpart on the other side. And I want to say for Senator Lott, the majority leader, he, too, was someone who wanted to get this bill behind us, get this job done, and he has shown his interest in doing that as he runs the Senate from the majority leader's position that we do move things along. There were Members on both sides of the aisle who also helped, too numerous to mention, but I think it is fair to say that those whom we have talked about had a significant role. Pete Domenici and I were among the four elected representatives to be negotiating, and we were often closeted days at a time. Though the atmosphere got stuffy, I think neither one of us did, and we were able to continue talking in a civilized fashion. The bill before us is the culmination of those many months of intense effort and people of both parties deserve to be proud of this accomplishment. This budget proves that when leaders with good will come together, we can overcome partisan divisions and find common ground. That is good news for all Americans. I will say this. We have gotten a lot of salutations, a lot of compliments about getting this job done.”