Harry Reid: “I want to say, because the opportunity may not be right at a subsequent time, how much I appreciate the days the Senator…”

“I want to say, because the opportunity may not be right at a subsequent time, how much I appreciate the days the Senator from West Virginia has spent on the floor on this issue. Because of my having responsibility to help move legislation along here, sometimes I was concerned it was taking so much time. But in hindsight, this legislation we are going to soon pass--it will pass sometime tonight--is better legislation. And while it may not be--484 pages may not be better, the knowledge of the American people of this legislation is so much better than if we had passed this as people wanted on September 11. So I want to commend and applaud the Senator from West Virginia for educating the Senate and the American public about what is in this bill and what is not in this bill. As I said, this legislation will pass. But as a result of what the Senator has done over these many months about this legislation, everyone is going to be looking at what is taking place in this new agency that would not have taken place but for the persistence of the Senator from West Virginia. The American public owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude for your knowledge about legislation and, most of all, for understanding what the Constitution is all about and the role, in that Constitution, of the legislative branch of Government.”