Thomas Daschle: “I was home in South Dakota over the last week, and I had the opportunity to talk with farmers and ranchers…”

“I was home in South Dakota over the last week, and I had the opportunity to talk with farmers and ranchers, businesspeople, educators, and government leaders. What I bring back from those many discussions is the strong belief that if there is anything we do in the Senate over the course of the next several weeks, it ought to be addressing the economic problems that our country is facing. I wish I had an accurate count of the number of times in various ways business men and women and farmers and ranchers asked the question: So why are you spending all of this time on a judge when our country is in such economic disarray? This is an important issue, the Estrada nomination, but we have said from the beginning, and I think we will be able to continue to say with authority, that there will not be any resolution until the Solicitor General documents are released and until Mr. Estrada is more forthcoming with regard to his positions. We can take up time on the Senate floor week after week, or we can put it aside, make some decision with regard to whether or not there will be some reconciliation on that issue and answer the question posed by so many South Dakotans to me last week: When will we address the economy? When will we recognize that there is a lot more productive use of the Senate's time than an unending debate about Miguel Estrada?”