Harry Reid: “Let me say to my friend from New Hampshire, for whom I have the greatest affection, the Senator from New Hampshire and I…”

“Let me say to my friend from New Hampshire, for whom I have the greatest affection, the Senator from New Hampshire and I worked together for one very difficult year when he was cochairman of the MIA-POW Committee. He, along with Senator Kerrey, led us in that most important study. I developed a great amount of knowledge of Senator Smith during that year. Our friendship, even though it budded there at the time of the MIA-POW Committee, really came to fruition when we were asked by our two party leaders to lead the Ethics Committee. During those years, we worked on some very difficult issues. Senator Smith I found to be a gentleman, a scholar. He has very good staff. He has the institutional awareness that he is very firm, very strict, but yet very fair. That is what the Ethics Committee needs. As I indicated, I developed a friendship with Bob Smith. I am terribly disappointed that he is not going to be here next year. I wish I could express in a better way, a more meaningful way, how deep my feelings are toward Bob Smith and how much I will miss him. I hope the stars are aligned appropriately sometime in the future that he can again return to public service.”