Thomas Daschle: “10 days ago, the President delivered to Congress the first balanced budget in 30 years. Yesterday we learned that the…”

“10 days ago, the President delivered to Congress the first balanced budget in 30 years. Yesterday we learned that the Federal deficit actually will be gone by the end of this year, four years ahead of schedule. That remarkable accomplishment was set in motion five years ago, when congressional Democrats joined the administration to return fiscal discipline to Washington. Because we did the right thing five years ago, our economy is stronger today than it's been in a generation. Our foundation is solid. Now we need to build on that foundation. For the last six months, congressional Democrats have worked with the administration to develop a unified agenda for the American people. We talked a lot about what the options were, and what our priorities should be. After a great deal of deliberation, we agreed on a series of proposals that merit--that really demand--our action this year. This morning, House and Senate Democrats met with the President and the Vice President and senior White House officials to ratify those proposals and begin the process of translating them into action, to confront real problems facing the American people with real solutions. We call our agenda ``New solutions for a New Century.'' These proposals address the most urgent concerns facing the American people today. We want to reach across the aisle and work with our Republican colleagues to adopt them this year. We need to increase the take-home pay of America's families.…”