Thomas Daschle: “before we leave for the Memorial Day recess, I wanted to make a couple of comments if I could with regard to the current…”

“before we leave for the Memorial Day recess, I wanted to make a couple of comments if I could with regard to the current situation on welfare reform. I did not hear all of his remarks, but I know that the Senator from South Dakota just made a reference to welfare in the budget. A number of colleagues on both sides of the aisle have addressed the issue this morning--Senator Breaux, and I believe, the majority leader did so as well. I think it is fairly clear that Democrats and Republicans want welfare reform. I do not know of anyone who supports the status quo. There has been a lot of talk about reform principles over the last several months. The President reiterated the basic principles just last weekend. And on Tuesday, my colleague, the majority leader, announced his principles. The legislation to reform welfare has come a long way in the last 12 months. Senator Breaux and Senator Chafee have worked over the course of the better part of a year now to achieve a bipartisan compromise on welfare reform, and frankly I applaud them for their effort and for the contribution they have made to this debate.”