Thomas Daschle: “I am disappointed, frankly, after all these weeks and with all of these good-faith efforts made, as amendments have come…”

“I am disappointed, frankly, after all these weeks and with all of these good-faith efforts made, as amendments have come up, as bills have been considered, that we have not been able to resolve this matter. I do not know how much longer it will take, but I do know this. It appears more and more that many of our Republican colleagues secretly desire to be in the House of Representatives. I would urge them to run for the House of Representatives if that is their desire. If they want the luxury of eliminating the opportunity for the minority to offer amendments, if they want the luxury of saying we are not going to have a debate about an issue that we do not want to debate, then run for the House. I still think there may be some seats open this year. They could try it even this year. My heavens, if you want to be in the Senate, if you want all the opportunities that the Senate provides us for good, unlimited, open debate, then let us not act like the House of Representatives.”