[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 22632-22633]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICA COMPETES ACT--CONFERENCE REPORT

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 
2272, the 21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007; that the conference 
report be adopted, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, 
that any statements be printed in the Record as if given.
  Mr. President, I hope we can, in a minute or two, clear this 
wonderful piece of legislation. It is something I think people will 
write about for a long time. It is going to improve America's stature 
in the world and allow us to be more competitive.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I 
will not object, I want to take a brief opportunity to thank the senior 
Senator from Tennessee, who was the brains behind this effort on the 
Republican side. It did enjoy broad bipartisan support. But the leader 
clearly on our side in developing and pushing for this accomplishment 
was the senior Senator from Tennessee. I just want to, on behalf of all 
of us who were enthusiastic about this piece of legislation, 
congratulate him for a spectacular job.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I certainly also applaud the Senator from 
Tennessee. He worked hand in glove with Senator Bingaman, Senator 
Kennedy, Senator Inouye.
  I think it is appropriate to send a bouquet to my friend, the 
distinguished junior Senator from Nevada, Mr. Ensign. This is something 
he has believed in for a long time. He has worked with a number of 
individuals, and he has been out front on this going on for well more 
than a year.
  The Republican leader and I have left off people who deserve 
attention, but we all deserve some credit. As we have said before, when 
we do something that is good, there is credit to go around. When we 
fail to accomplish things, there is blame to go around. Tonight, we can 
all claim a little bit of the credit, and rightfully so.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

[[Page 22633]]


  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, which I 
will not do, while the majority leader and the Republican leader are on 
the floor, I would simply like to say that this is the Reid-McConnell 
bill we are passing, which represents the fact that so many Members of 
this body have been a part of it.
  After the Senator from Iowa makes his remarks, after wrap-up, I plan 
to make some remarks about this bill. But I would just simply say now 
that they have created an environment, in a bipartisan way, that 
permitted this bill to pass. It has been worked on for 2 years. It has 
had 70 Members--35 Democrats, 35 Republicans--cosponsoring it. I would 
judge that there will be no more important piece of legislation to the 
future of the country that passes the Congress in this session. I wish 
to thank Senator Reid, Senator McConnell, and Senator Frist from the 
last session for creating the environment that made it possible.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The conference report was agreed to.
  (The conference report is printed in the House proceedings of 
Wednesday, August 1, 2007.)

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