Thomas Daschle: “I give extraordinary credit to our two leaders on this issue, Senators McCain and Feingold, for their persistence and…”

“I give extraordinary credit to our two leaders on this issue, Senators McCain and Feingold, for their persistence and diligence in the manner in which they have conducted themselves as they have sought resolution of this issue. I have indicated on occasions, both publicly and privately, that I think Senator McCain deserves great credit for having taken the initiative this year and worked as diligently as he has to bring us to where we are. Certainly the same could be said for our colleague from Wisconsin, Senator Feingold. The two of them have spent countless hours and an extraordinary effort to bring us to a point where for the first time in recent modern history, Democrats and Republicans can join together in the passage of truly meaningful comprehensive reform. What I think this letter does is to reaffirm the new math on this issue, to reaffirm how close we really are to passage of a comprehensive bill. I'm not suggesting that all 48 Senators who have signed the letter have agreed to every provision in the legislation. Rather, I firmly believe this letter demonstrates that we are committed to enacting real campaign finance reform this Congress.”