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Joining us now from the Russell Rotunda¹ in the Senate office building is Democratic Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut.

Good morning, senator.

Good morning and Merry Chrismas Maggie.

Same to you. I want to make sure that everybody understands that while this vote is definitely momentous², this is not a done deal. You still have to bridge your bill with the House's bill. And I'm curious, Senator, who do you think is more likely to budge³ because there are significant differences?

Absolutely right, Maggie. There are differences. And I don't think it's a question of one side or the other budging⁴ obviously. It's trying to come to a common ground on these issues and I think there's a lot of common interest and common goals in the bill, so I don't anticipate this to be an acrimonious⁵ discussion between the House and the Senate. We've changed this bill to accommodate some interests in the House already. So I anticipate this to work pretty well. In fact, the people I'll be talking with in this, Max Baucus and I have arrived in Congress the same day along with Henry Waxman and George Miller⁶ and Tom Harkin. So the five of us will be sitting down who've spent thirty-five years with each other. We know each other very, very well. Nancy Pelosi and I have known each other. She was my sister's roommate in college. And, so I've known her since she was eighteen years of age and we have a good relationship as well as she does with Harry⁷ Reid. These are people who I think commonly want to get to the point where we can achieve this historic goal for all Americans.