Thomas Daschle: “Excuse me, $4 million on the Pillsbury investigation. They have now completed their work. As the Senator from…”

“Excuse me, $4 million on the Pillsbury investigation. They have now completed their work. As the Senator from Connecticut has indicated, they have recommended that there be nothing else done. They have completed their work, they have come to a definitive understanding of what happened, and are recommending that no additional action be taken. In spite of that, we are recommending additional time. The Senator makes a very important point. In a poll taken just recently, the American people said of all the issues that they care the most about, public education by more that 2 to 1 is the most important priority that they hope the Senate and the Congress will devote its attention to; following closely is the effort to control crime. Mr. President, 64 percent, almost as many people, felt we ought to look at the economy and good jobs. Here we have the American people saying, if it is up to them, they want to talk about education, they want us to deal with it. They want to talk about crime control and want us to deal with it more effectively. They certainly want us to try to find ways to build an economy that creates better jobs. Yet, on those issues, there have been no hearings on the economy and jobs designated to examine ways with which to try to improve this situation. Of all the days we have had, now more than 400 days since the 104th Congress began, we can only find 3 days out of more than 400 to find time to hold a hearing on public education--3 days.”