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Mr. REID. Mr. President, I will take just a minute to talk about the bill we are going to vote final passage on in just a few minutes. I cannot say it enough--I have said it a lot, I will continue to say it--this

is a wonderful opportunity for the Senate and a great accomplishment for our country. What I say just now I have said many times because it feels so good to say it. One of the most progressive Members of this body and one of the most conservative Members of this body got together and said they wanted to do a bill that was good for the American people, a bill that will save or create 2.8 million jobs. We have had some scuffles along the way, but that is what the Senate is all about. The rules of the Senate sometimes demand scuffles, as difficult as they are. We now have a bill that will pass, and it will have a significant bipartisan vote.

I so appreciate Senator Boxer and Senator Inhofe helping us work through this bill. But for them we could not have done the bill. Frankly, Senator McConnell and I could not have accomplished this. But with these two fine Senators working to move some of the obstacles in the path, we were able to do this. As late as yesterday, we were unable to get this done. I so appreciate their hard and good work.

As everybody knows, I am a very good friend of Barbara Boxer's. We came to Washington together 30 years ago. What a lot of people don't know about is the very close personal relationship I have with Jim Inhofe. One of the finest letters--and it brings tears to my eyes, frankly--that I received during my wife's illness was a letter from him expressing his friendship to me and, of course, saying they would say prayers for my wife. So this is, for me, an opportunity to talk about how good the Senate can be. I am proud of every one of you for working our way through this.

Before propounding a unanimous consent request, I want to say that Senator McConnell and I have reached an agreement on the judges. He will explain it to his caucus, as I will to mine. It is something that I feel is in keeping with what we do here. It is like all matters we do here legislatively--it is an effort to work out a compromise.

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Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have learned in my years in the Senate, especially since Senator Leahy took over the Judiciary Committee, that I don't do anything with the Judiciary Committee--especially with judges--that I don't clear first with Senator Leahy. He has been an integral part of our agreement on the judges issue.

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