Bob Dole: “let me indicate that I think we have accomplished a great deal this year in the Senate, and we will accomplish a great…”

“let me indicate that I think we have accomplished a great deal this year in the Senate, and we will accomplish a great deal more. Normally there is a period of recess for Lincoln's birthday so Republicans can go out and do whatever they do during that week, and then there is a later period of a week for Democrats. I regret that we could not adjourn the Senate to accommodate many members of the staff who will now be required probably to stay here, because if we take a look at last year, we came in early in January and stayed throughout the year with hardly any breaks. I am not complaining about that, but those are the facts. I should know. I think we may have set records with the number of votes and the number of hours in session. It was truly a remarkable year, and we accomplished a great deal. We have a great deal more to do this year. I regret that we were unable to just recess. There will be no votes until February 27, and perhaps members of the staff whom I am looking at now can work out some little time to have some relaxation and rest because they certainly deserve it. We have had long sessions. We have been in late at night and some of us were here during the holidays negotiating with the President trying to work out a budget agreement. We do not have it yet. America's Governors may have moved it along a little bit. We are still not in accord with the President, and we hope that might be possible.…”