Thomas Daschle: “I think today is going to be a very important day, because we will now have completed the first phase of the Senate's…”

“I think today is going to be a very important day, because we will now have completed the first phase of the Senate's work in response to the 9/11 Commission recommendations. I have said this now on several occasions, but I think it bears repeating--it would not have happened were it not for the great effort made by the Senator from Kentucky and the Senator from Nevada, our two assistant leaders. I congratulate them and I appreciate their excellent work. I also hope we can finish homeland security. As the majority leader has said on several occasions, it is important that we finish the homeland security bill. We cannot leave, as he has noted several times, without finishing that. It sends a terrible message to the country if we are not in a position to complete our work.”