Thomas Daschle: “I ask, what is the majority afraid of? This clearly is not a question any longer of time because the majority leader, in…”

“I ask, what is the majority afraid of? This clearly is not a question any longer of time because the majority leader, in one of his many unanimous consent requests, proposed an unlimited number of amendments, as long as they are relevant. We can come up with 100 relevant amendments to a bill this controversial and of this complexity. Let's understand what we are doing. This is a sham. This is a sham. The majority leader, for some reason, wants to deny his own caucus and the minority the right to offer legitimate amendments in the Senate. This may be the first time this majority leader has acquiesced to pressures within his caucus to do this, and that is unfortunate. This happened on many occasions in previous years, and I think if anyone talks with those who have served in his capacity before, I think the lesson learned is that it was to no avail, and it was actually counterproductive. It did exactly the opposite of what the majority attempted to do. For us now to find ourselves in this situation seems a little bit to me like deja vu all over again. We have tried this, and it is going to backfire on this majority and this majority leader, just as it has in past circumstances. So let's be clear, this has nothing to do with finishing this bill. Why, given all of our cooperation to get to this point, the majority would try to shove this down our throats is unclear. But that is exactly how I perceive it. It is a sham.”