Barbara Boxer: “In many ways, this has been a very hard day. I thank the majority leader of the Senate, Tom Daschle, for the remarks he…”

“In many ways, this has been a very hard day. I thank the majority leader of the Senate, Tom Daschle, for the remarks he just made and for the remarks he made earlier today. He actually spoke in defense of the Senate. Anyone who knows Tom Daschle--and I think most people around here do--knows that Tom Daschle is a very soft spoken man. They know that Tom Daschle does not rise to anger or fights, if ever, very often. Therefore, one has to really look at why this occurred. In my mind, this is not an isolated example of what has been happening. It is a continuum of what has been happening, starting with Andrew Card, the President's chief of staff, who, when asked, why didn't you start discussing this this summer, if you were ready to move such a resolution in October or September, answered, in essence: You don't roll out a new product in the summer. This kind of thing just seems to continue. We have the Vice President campaigning and essentially saying to the campaigns of the Republican candidates: Gee, we really need you because the Democrats won't help our war effort. I don't know where this President has been, but I have heard many Democrats, including, for example, the individual presiding in the chair, indicating their support. We are an umbrella party. We do represent different views. Frankly, it makes our party stronger. Everyone wants to go after Saddam Hussein. Everyone wants to get rid of those weapons of mass destruction.”