Thomas Daschle: “I come this morning to again review the lay of the land. As I said a couple of days ago, many of my colleagues, most of…”

“I come this morning to again review the lay of the land. As I said a couple of days ago, many of my colleagues, most of our caucus, expressed deep concern--alarm, really--at the hijacking of the process that went on during the deliberations on the Omnibus appropriations bill. I said at the time, and I believe it ought to be repeated, that I believe the process in the Senate was fair. I have immense respect for the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He worked with Members on both sides to accommodate consensus and to reach agreement and the process worked. That process was destroyed at the eleventh hour by some in the administration and by leadership on the Republican side in the House. Changes were demanded. Ultimatums were set. The House and Senate were actually forced to take positions in conference diametrically in opposition to the very positions we took on the Senate floor after a very deliberative debate; positions that I think have great merit. On an overwhelming vote, the Senate supported the notion that we ought to have country-of-origin labeling. They did it because they believed it is an opportunity for us to enhance our ability to add confidence to consumers' choice, knowing if they buy 100 percent U.S. beef they are not going to buy meat with downer cattle from foreign countries. We are going to be able to say with confidence to countries who are purchasing our products that they are 100 percent U.S. product.”