Thomas Daschle: “we have come a long way and I congratulate our managers and thank, once again, our assistant Democratic leader for his…”

“we have come a long way and I congratulate our managers and thank, once again, our assistant Democratic leader for his assistance in moving our effort along. We will complete our work on the bill today. That is very gratifying. I only hope now once we have completed our work we can expedite consideration with the House. We will await their decisions with regard to how they might proceed. Clearly, we are in a position to complete our work in a reasonable time. I hope the same spirit of bipartisanship that was so clearly demonstrated from the very first day with regard to consideration of this legislation can be equally as evident and apparent as we finish our work. It is the only way the bill will get done under these circumstances. Again, I thank the majority leader for setting that tone. I also say we are in a very good position to do the same with the legislative reorganization. A lot of thought and effort has gone into the working group's recommendations. I am one who believes this resolution is as close to the consensus within the Congress, within the Senate, at least, regarding how we might respond to the recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission as we will get. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We have provided the Senate with an opportunity to address the concerns raised by the 9/11 Commission in a very reasonable, thoughtful, and comprehensive way.”