Thomas Daschle: “I would be happy to hear the majority leader's answer. My guess is, if I understand the Senator's question correctly…”

“I would be happy to hear the majority leader's answer. My guess is, if I understand the Senator's question correctly, that they don't have an interest in school construction. They don't really have an interest in some of the amendments we are trying to offer here. They would prefer not to have to vote on them, because oftentimes these amendments are critical to school districts back home. So I don't blame the majority leader for trying to avoid having some of these tough votes. Maybe if I were in that position, I would, too. But the fact is that they are critical issues directly confronting education. We have an education bill pending. We have a tax bill pending, and the last time a circumstance similar to this occurred when we were in the majority, we let the Republicans offer 52 amendments. So that is really the essence of the question before us. Do we have a good debate about issues that are directly relevant to this bill or not? So far, the Republicans have refused us that debate. According to that chart, we are now in day 10. I yield the floor.”