Thomas Daschle: “I think the distinguished Republican leader has spoken for all of us in expressing his affection and his gratitude for a…”

“I think the distinguished Republican leader has spoken for all of us in expressing his affection and his gratitude for a very special person. This will not be our farewell speech. We will give that later as it accompanies an official Senate resolution that I am certain will be offered on a bipartisan basis by the two leaders and perhaps with the cosponsorship of others but certainly with the unanimous, enthusiastic support of the entire Senate. But we take the floor this afternoon to acknowledge the decision Elizabeth has made and to call attention to that decision and to express our gratitude and our deep affection for a person to whom we have turned, on both sides of the aisle, on countless occasions. I have been leader now for about 7 years. I have had the good fortune of working with Elizabeth all 7 of those years. But that is just less than a third of the time she has worked in various capacities in this Chamber. She has served the Senate, not just the Republican caucus but the Senate, so admirably, so professionally, so capably that it goes without saying that on occasions such as this it is a heartfelt gesture for us to pass a resolution as we did in the caucus this afternoon.”