Larry Pressler: “I should pay tribute to the staff on both sides who have worked so hard on this. On our side of the aisle there has been…”

“I should pay tribute to the staff on both sides who have worked so hard on this. On our side of the aisle there has been Paddy Link, Katie King, Donald McClellan and Earl Comstock. On the Democratic side, Kevin Curtin, John Windhausen, Kevin Joseph and Chris McClean. The committee's legislative counsel, Lloyd Ator. All this staff has done a magnificent job. Let me also mention the dilligent efforts of David Wilson, Mark Buse, Brett Scott, Jeanne Bumpus, Dave Hoppe, Kevin Pritchett, Margaret Cummisky, Tom Zoeller and Cheryl Bruner. I do not know if people know it, but the only days the staff got off were Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and barely Christmas Eve, in drafting this technical legislation and in all the negotiations. This piece of legislation was drafted entirely by Senators and staff. Many times there have been accusations that legislation was drafted by outsiders, but this technical piece of legislation was drafted line by line by Senators and staff. Many times we would have to call a Senator on the weekends and ask about a line or word change. I do not know if people realize how hard these staff people work. I just wanted to pay tribute to them because, to me this technical document is a remarkable achievement. They did it as public servants. One day I went in on a Sunday and bought them some pizza.”