Thomas Daschle: “there can be no doubt. If we are serious about moving this legislation forward and providing this assistance, we take…”

“there can be no doubt. If we are serious about moving this legislation forward and providing this assistance, we take care of this amendment and move on to other issues. We have been on this bill now for 3 weeks. We will be on it for another couple weeks, the way it looks. There comes a time when we just have to move on and when we have to recognize that, under Senate rules, we either have to accommodate the rules, or reach some compromise, or drop the amendment. We have those three options. We cannot accommodate the rules today because neither side has 60 votes. Let's recognize it for what it is. This is a delay. Until we get over this delay, we cannot provide the kind of assistance to firefighters and farmers and ranchers that is absolutely critical across the country. And the very speeches we made last week are just as real and important and urgent today. I yield the floor.”