Pete Sessions: “It is great to be back in session this morning and see my chairman, Senator Hatch. I know today he made a big…”

“It is great to be back in session this morning and see my chairman, Senator Hatch. I know today he made a big announcement. He has given his heart over the last several months and offered himself to the American people as our next President. He did so with integrity. Throughout the year, he chaired the Judiciary Committee. We never slacked in our committee hearings. He was here and missed hardly any votes. So many of our candidates seem to give up their responsibilities in the House or the Senate, but he did not do so. He regularly cast his votes day after day. This is the first real business of the Senate, a day in which he made an announcement. I know it was very important to him that he would not continue his seeking of the Presidency, and he is introducing and leading the fight for a very important and historic bankruptcy reform bill that is long overdue. Senator Hatch and Senator Grassley have worked exceedingly hard to make this bill a reality. We are on the verge of it becoming a reality. It has been frustrating. The last time we passed this bill in the last hours of the last Congress, it had over 95 votes and only 1 or 2 opposing votes. It came out of committee last year 16-2, with almost that many votes this time in Judiciary Committee. It is a bill whose time has come. I am glad we are bringing it up. I thank the majority leader, Senator Trent Lott, for saying we need to bring this to a conclusion and calling it up for debate at the beginning.”