Sen. Susan Collins hailed Wednesday’s passage of intelligence reforms, spurred in part by the government’s failure to protect America on Sept. 11, 2001, as “historic.”

Collins, a Republican, co-authored with Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn, the legislation that was approved by the Senate Wednesday and House on Tuesday.

The two, in a joint statement issued after senators voted 89 to 2 in favor of the measure, said: “This is an historic day for our country and great achievement for the American people.”

They went on to call the legislation “the most comprehensive overhaul of our nation’s intelligence agencies in more than 50 years,” adding, “We are … giving the intelligence program a long overdue upgrade, so that our intelligence community has the resources, personnel, oversight, coordination, and accountability necessary to counter the security threats of today and the future.”

The pair said that by approving the law, Congress is “taking the concrete steps necessary to make Americans safer.”

Collins then added that the bill “is going to make a real difference to the security of our country. It is going to improve the quality of intelligence provided to our military and it will help to keep civilians safer here at home.”