Thomas Daschle: “The Senator from California puts her finger right on the issues I omitted, and rightfully so. One year ago, we all had a…”

“The Senator from California puts her finger right on the issues I omitted, and rightfully so. One year ago, we all had a bipartisan agreement and celebrated the fact we were going to reduce class size. How ironic it is now, after all the celebration, that in just 12 months Republicans have had a change of heart. Now, apparently, class size is no longer an issue. Now, apparently, it is OK to have kids in classrooms with 35, 40, 50 children. It doesn't matter. The Senator is right about that. The Senator is also right about judges. I don't know how anyone can look Judge Paez in the eye and say he got a fair deal. I don't know how Members tell anybody who has had to wait for more than 3 years that this system is fair. I don't know how Members tell the Hispanic community we are being equally as fair with them as we are with all non-Hispanic judges when that simply is not true. If one is in a minority, that person has a bigger contest in getting confirmed. That is a fact. I won't deal with all the perceptions that creates, but it is wrong. Hispanic or non-Hispanic, African American or non-African American, woman or man, it is wrong not to have a vote on the Senate floor. What are they afraid of? What are they afraid of? What is wrong with a vote? There is something wrong in our system when somebody has the right to tell somebody who is willing to commit him or herself to public service that we are going to make that person wait 3 rac{1}{2} ext{ years just to get a vote.”