Thomas Daschle: “first, while I fully recognize the ability of the Senator from South Carolina to object to this amendment, it is…”

“first, while I fully recognize the ability of the Senator from South Carolina to object to this amendment, it is certainly his right. I am disappointed. The majority leader has made, in my view, a major step forward in trying to resolve the impasse. I commend him and appreciate the direction he has now indicated he is prepared to go in an attempt to bring this matter to a close. The amendment, as the majority leader indicated, is one that includes amendments on both sides. We expressed last week our concern for two things: First, the array of relevant amendments that may not be germane. The majority leader's amendment includes all relevant amendments that, in many cases, if not all of them, are not germane. So unless we get an agreement to add these relevant amendments, we are precluded from doing so. There are some relevant amendments that still need to be offered that are not included in this package. By taking the tree down, those relevant amendments about which we have been very concerned are still pending and would not be offered if there were objections to offering them or if we were not able to bring them to closure. The second problem we had, of course, was with nonrelevant, nongermane amendments. In our discussions and negotiations, we have been able to accommodate that concern by working out an agreement on bankruptcy that I find to be very satisfactory that will allow us to take up nonrelevant, nongermane amendments.”