Thomas Daschle: “I rise to address the concerns that have been raised today on the floor. This is not the first time we have had…”

“I rise to address the concerns that have been raised today on the floor. This is not the first time we have had differences of interpretation on this agreement, and it will not be the last. This has not been an easy process for anybody on either side of the aisle. I know that the majority leader and I have attempted to work through disagreements dispassionately, to keep our cool, and to recognize there are going to be honest differences of opinion on how we should proceed. I just hope we have learned some lessons from the way this budget agreement was handled, and Republicans and Democrats will make a commitment to not repeat this kind of process so we can avoid the pitfalls we are now experiencing. The fact is, when this agreement was negotiated, we had a handful of Senators in a room making decisions for the rest of us. While I agree with the end product, I have no qualms about disagreeing with the way we got there.”