Thomas Daschle: “about an hour ago I noted that we have a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. We have talked…”

“about an hour ago I noted that we have a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. We have talked jointly--Republicans and Democrats--about the need to do not only economic stimulus but the farm bill, the energy bill, and the election reform bill. We have 2 days this week. We have only 2 days next week. And then we have 2 weeks before the Founders' Day recess. I do not know how we can accommodate all of those unless we can move this legislation forward. We had lengthy debates about the economic stimulus bill for weeks in the remaining period prior to the end of the last session. I suggested to Senator Lott yesterday that perhaps one way we could expedite the consideration of this bill, without any time limits, is simply to get a limit on amendments. I have been told there are some on the Republican side who would rather not complete work on this bill perhaps not only not this week or next week but until the week after. I hope that is not the case. There is much to be done. As I said, I think there is mutual advantage to getting it done. So I indicated about an hour ago that I would propose a unanimous consent request that would simply recognize the facts I have just stated. I am not wedded to the particular amendment limit I have suggested in this unanimous consent request. I am going to be proposing we limit amendments on either side to four each.”