David Thomas: “it is sort of exciting to begin to move into a new Congress, the 105th Congress. You and I and others came first here to…”

“it is sort of exciting to begin to move into a new Congress, the 105th Congress. You and I and others came first here to the Senate 2 years ago with some dedication to principles that we still hold. Now, we have a new opportunity to continue to work toward the implementation of those things that we came away from the election 2 years ago thinking that people in our States wanted, and people in this country continue to want those things. So we have a great opportunity now. I think we had success, particularly in the last few months of the last session, as we moved toward doing something with health care. We did something about a couple of Federal mandates, Federal programs that were in place, such as welfare and farm programs, which have been changed now--and I think are more useful and effective--moving them closer to the States. I think that is a good thing to do. So I hope that we can continue to follow on our efforts in the 104th Congress, efforts that will lead us to a smaller Federal Government, a Federal Government that is more defined in terms of its role, a Federal Government that is more efficient and effective in delivering services, one that is closer to the people that are governed, closer to the people who receive the services and benefits, more efficient in the delivery of those services, less bureaucratic and more accountable. I think that's what all of us would like to do. These are principles that most of us agree to.”