Thomas Daschle: “It makes me wonder what people are afraid of. What in the world are Senators afraid of, bringing up and debating an…”

“It makes me wonder what people are afraid of. What in the world are Senators afraid of, bringing up and debating an amendment? We used to do that all the time. I can recall so many occasions when we had to come down to the floor and table an amendment that might have had immediate popularity but was not good for the country. We did that. We tabled amendments. We second-degreed them. Again, I am getting into 'beltway speak' here, but the bottom line is, we respected Senators' rights to fight for the things they cared about, to fight for the things for which the people sent them to fight. But how do you make a difference if you do not have a voice? How do you make a difference when you do not have an opportunity to legislate? How do you make a difference when you are really shoved back into the mentality and the constraints of the House of Representatives when you are a Senator? That is not what the people of our States and this country sent us to do.”