Thomas Daschle: “I would certainly want to reiterate what the majority leader said at the beginning of his comments, which is that we…”

“I would certainly want to reiterate what the majority leader said at the beginning of his comments, which is that we have been negotiating now for some time in an effort to determine how we might bring to the floor the health care bills offered by the Republican caucus as well as the Democratic caucus. Our view is that it would be very difficult to have a debate of the importance of what we consider this to be, with the limit of amendments that the majority leader has proposed. I would not say, in either case, people felt that was too long a debate to have on an important bill like those two appropriations bills. I ask unanimous consent that the majority leader's request be modified to provide for relevant amendments--to limit it to relevant amendments. I think we can have a good debate. We are prepared to limit them to relevant amendments. I have asked my colleagues not to offer the Patients' Bill of Rights amendment to other bills because, in large measure, we have been working in good faith to try to see if we can accommodate a schedule that will allow us to bring it to the floor.”