Jeff Bingaman: “let me speak again about the extraordinary effort that went into this legislation and talk particularly about the staff…”

“let me speak again about the extraordinary effort that went into this legislation and talk particularly about the staff work that has brought us to this point. I think everyone involved in this legislation knows this represents many days and many nights of hard work by staff people in our personal offices as well as on committee staff. We have seen a great example of how the staffs of the various committees can come together and produce a good product. I will reiterate the leadership among Senators for this work. Senator Alexander, of course, deserves tremendous credit. Senator Domenici deserves tremendous credit. Senator Lieberman and Senator Ensign have both worked very hard on this legislation and deserve great credit as well. I know Senators Reid and McConnell acknowledged their good work. We also, of course, could not have done this without the leadership of Senator Kennedy and Senator Enzi on the HELP Committee, and without the leadership of Senator Inouye, Senator Stevens, Senator Mikulski, and Senator Hutchison.”