John Thune: “it has been a long road to get to today. More than a year ago, groups of Republican Senators and staff began meeting to…”

“it has been a long road to get to today. More than a year ago, groups of Republican Senators and staff began meeting to lay the groundwork for extending tax relief for hard-working Americans if we were given the opportunity. Voters gave us that opportunity. Since we took office in January, Republicans have been laser-focused on achieving the bill before us today. Now we are here passing legislation that will permanently extend tax relief for hard-working Americans; that will spur economic growth and more jobs and opportunities for American workers; that will rebuild our military, secure our borders, unleash American energy, and cut waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs. With this legislation, we are fulfilling the mandate we were entrusted with last November and setting our country and the American people up to be safer, stronger, and more prosperous. No bill of this size comes together without a lot of very hard work, and I want to thank the committee members and the chairmen who worked so long on this legislation. I also want to thank the committee staff and the leadership staff and the Member staff who have put an incredible number of hours in putting this bill together. None of us would be where we are without our staffs. And nowhere is this more true than on this bill, which would not have come together without a lot of very late nights, early mornings, and long afternoons of tireless work from staffers.”