Thomas Daschle: “officially, the Congress that ended in December was the 107th Congress. But history will almost surely record it as the…”

“officially, the Congress that ended in December was the 107th Congress. But history will almost surely record it as the September 11th Congress. From the moment the first plane hit the first tower until the last moments of the lameduck session, helping America recover from that horrific day, bringing its plotters to justice and making changes to protect America from future terrorist attacks dominated the Senate's agenda. We continued that work--even as we confronted unprecedented challenges in the Senate: anthrax, the rise of new threats to our Nation, and the loss of our friend and colleague, Paul Wellstone. Through tragic and historic events, the 107th Senate under Democratic control produced a number of important legislative accomplishments: aviation security and counterterrorism legislation; the toughest corporate accountability law since the SEC was created in 1934; the most far-reaching campaign finance reforms since Watergate; the most significant overhaul of Federal education policies since 1965; and a new farm bill to replace the failed Freedom to Farm Act. However, other important legislation fell victim to special-interest arm-twisting, and the other party's unwillingness to compromise on their proposals, or even consider ours. We saw that on proposals to dedicate greater resources to homeland security, a Medicare prescription drug benefit, and a real, enforceable patients' bill of rights.”