Thomas Daschle: “I am disappointed we find ourselves in the position we are in, both procedurally as well as substantively--procedurally…”

“I am disappointed we find ourselves in the position we are in, both procedurally as well as substantively--procedurally because this bill, obviously, has not had the benefit of committee consideration. The majority leader, as is his right, brought it directly to the floor. We have a model we used last year to resolve issues of controversy of this nature, in particular the terrorism insurance bill. That bill was brought to the floor after a significant degree of consultation and cooperation and, ultimately, negotiation. As a result of that negotiation, even though the whole question of jury awards and issues involving tort reform were brought up--because there were some who argued that was the only way to resolve this issue involving terrorism and the problems of insurance related to terrorism--we passed the legislation on a bipartisan basis. If you ask anybody today in the industry, they will tell you that insurance premiums have gone down dramatically. The terrorism insurance bill has worked. I would only hope that we could use a model such as that with this issue as well.”