Thomas Daschle: “I indicated I will return to the floor in a short while. But while he is here, let me thank the distinguished Republican…”

“I indicated I will return to the floor in a short while. But while he is here, let me thank the distinguished Republican leader for his generous words. He spoke for both of us in recounting what we have experienced over the course of the last 2 years. This has been an extraordinarily eventful 107th Congress. He did not mention, but I know he could have gone on to include the war in Afghanistan, extraordinary challenges on Wall Street, amazing things on the war on terror that we have confronted, breakfasts with the President as we attempted to confront these challenges one by one in a bipartisan way. So this has been extraordinarily eventful. You have to go back a long ways--a half a century--to find a time when power shifted within one Congress from one party to the other. I told him at the time--and I have since reiterated to him--how impressed I was in the way with which in our relationship he accepted that transfer of power. I hope I can be equally as magnanimous, and I hope to demonstrate that that will be the case beginning in January. He and I have developed a relationship that is built on a great deal of experience. And from that experience comes trust and affection. He also did not mention a great moment in both of our lives: when we became grandfathers. That has been a special treasure for both of us. And we have shared those moments about family and about grandchildren, as we have experienced them for the first time.”