Thomas Daschle: “we have been debating this critical piece of legislation now for over a week. Most of the debate has properly centered…”

“we have been debating this critical piece of legislation now for over a week. Most of the debate has properly centered on the immediate issues presented by the bill before us: How much of the $20 billion the President is seeking for reconstruction of Iraq should American taxpayers provide, and under what terms and conditions should they provide it? We will have an opportunity tomorrow to talk about a number of specific amendments dealing with loan relationships with Iraq and the probability that the debate centering on whether or not Iraq should be required to take some of the assistance in the form of a loan will be resolved before the end of the week. There are widely divergent and strongly held views within this Chamber about how we should answer the questions involving loans and grants, and what responsibilities Iraq should have. While Senate passage of $87 billion to secure and rebuild Iraq seems certain, each of us knows the amount contained in this bill is not sufficient to complete the task. The administration itself has argued that we may need another $55 billion beyond the request made in this appropriations bill today. We don't know how we will do in the donors' conference. But I am told the best we can expect at this point is about $3 billion from the international community.”