Harry Reid: “Senator McConnell and I worked as much as we could to get this to a point where we are today. I do not like to…”

“Senator McConnell and I worked as much as we could to get this to a point where we are today. I do not like to acknowledge this often, but we were unable to do that. It was only because of the intervention of the two leaders that we were able to arrive at this point. We need not go into all the details of what went into this agreement, but I want to publicly acknowledge the good work of the Democratic leader and the majority leader in allowing us to get to this point. This has been done very quickly on the Senate floor, but to arrive at this point has taken literally hours of time. This is a significant breakthrough. I think, with all the difficulty we have been having with judicial nominations, that this is a significant advancement. It is typical of what has to be done when dealing with legislation. A lot of people have to give up what they felt was something they could not give up. I also would say that Senator Hatch and Senator Leahy have been involved. I think they have helped the advancement of the Senate by their agreeing to things to which a little while ago they would not have agreed. I wish to publicly commend the two leaders, and the chairman of the committee and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Senators Hatch and Leahy, for some excellent work.”