Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper helped keep negotiators at the table on the budget reconciliation deal unveiled by Senate Democrats Wednesday night, yielding an unexpected $769 billion package hailed by supporters as an ambitious proposal to tackle climate change, prescription drug prices and the federal deficit, lawmakers and political observers said.

While the fate of the 725-page bill, dubbed the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” remains far from certain in the evenly divided Senate, producing an agreement between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Joe Manchin, the conservative West Virginia Democrat, drew acclaim Thursday from President Joe Biden, who called it “a big deal” and “the most important investment that we’ve ever made in our energy security” in remarks at the White House.

Hickenlooper was among a small group of senators who were instrumental in maintaining talks between Schumer and Manchin, who stymied earlier attempts at a larger measure proposed by Biden, The New York Times reported.

“When a lot of people said, ‘That’s the end’ and everyone’s writing it off, I went to everybody I knew and said, ‘Wait a minute, we can’t quit,'” Hickenlooper told the newspaper, adding that he had resolved to stay at the table as long as Manchin was willing to keep talking.

The bill, which promises to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by an estimated 40% by 2030, could reach the Senate floor as early as next week, where it will only need support from the chamber’s 50 Democrats — with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris — under budget reconciliation rules allowing the legislation to bypass a filibuster.

In addition to united opposition from the Senate’s 50 Republicans, The Associated Press reported Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona Democrat who joined Manchin to derail earlier versions of the bill, had yet to reveal her position.

“I’m proud my colleagues refused to give up the fight, even when the odds were long,” Hickenlooper said Wednesday in a statement. “We worked around the clock to prove that clean energy investments will fight inflation.”

Last week, Hickenlooper urged his colleagues to forgo the scheduled August recess if that’s what it took to strike a deal, tweeting that negotiators were “much closer to a climate deal than people realize.”

Added Hickenlooper: “Fighting climate change is more important than any August recess. Let’s not throw in the towel just yet.”

After the deal was announced, Hickenlooper echoed the sentiment, calling the bill “the most significant piece of climate legislation in U.S. history” and calling on Congress to “get it across the finish line as soon as possible.”

Among the bill’s climate-related provisions are $369 billion over the next decade toward renewable energy production and tax rebates to consumers who buy electric vehicles and heat pumps, and other measures.

The bill also includes an anticipated $300 billion directed toward deficit reduction over the same 10 years, largely resulting from a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn over $1 million in annual profits initially proposed by Hickenlooper’s Democratic colleague, Michael Bennet.

That provision, expected to raise $313 billion over the next decade, is meant to “make sure the largest companies pay their fair share,” Bennet said on Twitter Thursday.

“There is no reason Colorado teachers or firefighters should pay more in taxes than Amazon,” he added.

Joe O’Dea, Bennet’s Republican challenger, indicated that he opposes key provisions in the bill, including the Bennet proposal.

“You don’t raise taxes on the front edge of a recession,” O’Dea tweeted Wednesday night after the deal had been announced. “And you certainly don’t raise taxes on American job creators fighting to compete with the likes of China in an uncertain world.”

He went on to urge Bennet to “vote with job creators and not with Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden.”