Thomas Daschle: “I want to say farewell to a wonderful group of young men and women who have served as Senate pages over the last five…”

“I want to say farewell to a wonderful group of young men and women who have served as Senate pages over the last five months, and thank them for the contributions they make to the day-to-day operations of the Senate. This particular group of pages has served with distinction and has done a marvelous job of balancing their responsibilities to their studies and to this body. Page life is not easy. I suspect few people understand the rigorous nature of the page's work. On a typical day, pages rise early and are in school by 6:15 a.m. After several hours in school each morning, pages then report to the Capitol to prepare the Senate Chamber for the day's session. Throughout the day, pages are called upon to perform a wide array of tasks--from obtaining copies of documents and reports for Senators to use during debate, to running errands between the Capitol and the Senate office buildings, to lending a hand at our weekly conference luncheons. Once we finish our business here for the day--no matter what time-- the pages return to the dorm to prepare for the next day's classes and Senate session and, we hope, get some much-needed sleep. Even with all of this, they continually discharge their tasks efficiently and cheerfully. This page class had the good fortune to be present on the Senate floor for several landmark votes, including NATO expansion and IRS reform. I hope before they leave they will see us pass a comprehensive national bill to reduce teen smoking.”