Harry Reid: “we all know the President pro tempore of the Senate, the manager of this bill, is one of the great legislators in the…”

“we all know the President pro tempore of the Senate, the manager of this bill, is one of the great legislators in the history of this body. We also believe we have been acting responsibly on this side of the aisle during the last 2 days. We have been admonished for 2 weeks now by the Democratic leader that we must finish the bill this week. We have tried to be responsible with the amendments we have offered. We have negotiated with the Senator from Alaska and his staff in good faith, and we have been able to work out some very big amendments, I think, to the betterment of this country. We have not tried in any way to alter the financial package that is going to the President that relates to the military. I have told the Senator from Alaska, and anyone else who would listen, that I am grateful he was able to put in the bill something that will help bolster the airline industry in this country, which badly needs help. But we also believe on this side of the aisle--and I personally support all $9 billion that the President has put in this bill for foreign aid--that if we can get $9 billion for foreign aid, we can reexamine what is being done for homeland security, and that is in effect what we are doing--reexamining what is taking place in the bill relating to homeland security. So the Democratic leader and all the Senators on this side of the aisle are committed to finishing the bill tonight. We understand the importance of it.…”