Thomas Daschle: “The Senator from Illinois asks a good question. Why we have to ask unanimous consent is because even though it is in…”

“The Senator from Illinois asks a good question. Why we have to ask unanimous consent is because even though it is in this calendar, the calendar of business--I could find the page very easily-- of Wednesday, September 2nd, it is an item of business to be taken up by the Senate. Why? Because it has already passed in the House. But we have to ask unanimous consent because the Republican leadership is unwilling to schedule it. Even though it has now passed in the House, even though there is a majority of Senators who are prepared to support it, there is intransigence on the part of our Republican leadership to bring this bill up. All we can do is hope that perhaps with some persistence and some repetition asking unanimous consent, or offering the bill as an amendment, we can take up what should be a normal course of business given the Senate Calendar.”