Thomas Daschle: “We have spent a week delaying completion of our work on the Transportation appropriations bill, fundamental investments…”

“We have spent a week delaying completion of our work on the Transportation appropriations bill, fundamental investments in our Nation's infrastructure. Why have we done that? Because there are those who are opposed to the regulatory commitment that we want to make for truck safety in this country. They are willing to sacrifice public investment in our Nation's infrastructure not for days but for weeks because they don't think we ought to support a rigorous inspection and a rigorous standard of quality with regard to safety on our Nation's highways. That is what this debate has been about now for several days. I am disappointed that only because of absentee Senators we lost the cloture vote tonight, but we will win that vote and inevitably we will win on the final passage of the Transportation bill. This has been nothing more than delay. This delay has been unnecessary, unproductive, and very unfortunate. There will be another day. We will deal with these issues. I will say, as I said a moment ago, there are some things we must do before we leave. We have no choice.”