Thomas Daschle: “I have learned that now myself over the last 18 months. I say to the distinguished majority leader that there are many…”

“I have learned that now myself over the last 18 months. I say to the distinguished majority leader that there are many things that he has done since he has taken this office that many of us have found to be very productive, and we appreciate his willingness to cooperate on so many things in the short time that he has been majority leader. I have been asked almost daily by members of the media how I view the first few weeks of the majority leader's tenure, and I have given him very high marks because of his determination to continue to find ways to deal with the many issues that he has listed. There have been times in this Congress when we have been able to accomplish a number of things. We passed the unfunded mandates bill last year. We passed the line-item veto. We passed the congressional accountability legislation. We passed telecommunications reform. We passed in the Senate a couple of bills that may or may not ultimately become law, including welfare reform. We might be able to do that again. On those occasions where Democrats and Republicans have worked together, we have had overwhelming votes. Just this week we passed the minimum wage bill by an overwhelming vote in part because the leadership has been able to find ways to work together.”