Patty Murray: “I add my voice to all Senators who in a bipartisan way have helped move this bill forward. They say that ``success has a…”

“I add my voice to all Senators who in a bipartisan way have helped move this bill forward. They say that ``success has a thousand authors''--and that is certainly true in the 5 years I have been working on port security. First, I thank my partner, Senator Collins. Last May, I sought out Senator Collins because I knew she cared about port security. She had worked on it at the Homeland Security Committee and she had the knowledge and leadership to help us reach this milestone. She has been a steadfast partner every day of the past 16 months that we have worked together, and I commend her and thank her. Senators Lieberman and Coleman were right there with us shaping this bill in the early days and helping us move it forward. I thank Senator Stevens and Senator Inouye at the Commerce Committee for their hard work, leadership, and passion. I thank Senators Grassley and Baucus for working with us on this bill. I thank both of our leaders--for setting aside time so we could debate the bill. I thank all the leaders from the maritime community who have shared their ideas and expertise with me--Mic Dinsmore, Henry Yates, and Rod Hilden at the Port of Seattle; Tim Farrell, Mike Zachary, and Julie Collins at the Port of Tacoma; and also leaders at the ports of New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Charleston, Miami, and MassPort in Boston. I want to thank security experts, especially Admiral James Loy and Dr. Stephen Flynn, for their thoughtful input on our bill.…”