Thomas Daschle: “I think I can say without equivocation or concern for contradiction that our caucus was ready to stand unanimously in…”

“I think I can say without equivocation or concern for contradiction that our caucus was ready to stand unanimously in support of their effort. But it is the amendment offered by the Senator from Hawaii that illustrates the point we were making earlier today. There is, I am told, one person in the entire body who has an objection to the amendment offered by the Senators from Hawaii--one person. One person is holding up the effort made by the two Senators from Hawaii courageously and persistently to deal with this question. And they came to us for advice: What do you think we should do? My suggestion was: Well, given the fact that we are in this situation, offer it as an amendment to the next vehicle. This happens to be the next vehicle. They said: We don't need a lot of time. We could probably resolve this matter, given the fact there is overwhelming support for it, in a few minutes. I said: I will tell you this: Once we get on the bill, you will have the first amendment on our side.”