Thomas Daschle

My hope is we can finish this bill sometime soon. It would be my desire to continue to work on it until we do so, with the exception, of course, of the campaign finance reform bill.

in more than 20 weeks of operations in Afghanistan, our troops have liberated Afghanistan, decimated the Taliban, disrupted al Qaeda operations and captured hundreds of al Qaeda terrorists. Their success lulled much of the world into…

earlier this morning, we had the opportunity to vote on the economic package that we have been working on now for some period of time. Our deliberations on this subject began almost 6 months ago. In fact, I do not think that the timing of…

I want to thank both of my distinguished colleagues for this important clarification. I understand that Treasury is considering this issue currently as part of its 2001 Priority Guidance Plan. For the record, I would note that Senators…

The Senator is exactly right, that is the intent of the legislation. As I understand it, the House chairman did clarify yesterday that his intent in drafting the legislation conformed to the Senator's view that the federal benefit start…

I ask if the distinguished Senator from Alaska is aware that the majority leader, when the Republicans were in charge, utilized exactly the same process the last time the energy bill the Senator is now criticizing came to the floor. I am…

the events of the last year have highlighted what Americans have known since the 1970s, our economic security and our national security depend on our energy security. Americans need--and deserve--an energy plan that truly moves us towards…

It is just not accurate for the Senator from Alaska to assert that this is unprecedented. That is the word he used; this was 'unprecedented.' As I said for the Record--it is now part of the Record--this very action was taken by the…

The last few years have been among the worst in history for the American steel industry. In just the last 2 years, 31 steel companies have filed for bankruptcy. Since January of 2000, more than 50 steel-making or related plants have shut…

my old friend and teacher, Mo Udall, wrote a book called ``Too Funny to be President'' and dedicated it, in his words, ``to the 3,000 Members of Congress, living and dead, with whom I served for nearly three decades.'' It is true. We are…

we are all, by now, too familiar with reports of cowardly terrorist attacks in the streets of Jerusalem. With each of these terrible attacks, we also hear amazing stories of heroism. I recently read a powerful account of the health care…

we have just received the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill from the House. As I have said before, this bill gives us the first real chance in a generation to limit the access of special interests to the political process. I had…

we have seen in the last year that energy security is related to economic security as well as to national security. Americans need and deserve an energy plan that truly moves us towards energy independence. At the same time, America's…

the administration's Council of Economic Advisers will issue today some self-serving economic revisionism--a little like a figure skating judge awarding the gold medal to his own team. We are going to hear that the recession was somehow…

I concur with the distinguished Republican leader in making that assertion as well. This is exactly the same language that 7 days ago we sent to the House. My only reason for renewing the request today is because, unfortunately, I think we…

I hope everybody will take the time to look at the legislation with whatever care they wish to use in addressing the concerns raised by the Senator from Kentucky. It is my intention to bring this to the floor as quickly as possible when we…

I commend our chairman for the extraordinary job he has done. He has been remarkable over a long period of time. His leadership and his cooperation and the tremendous effort he has put forth are to be commended. Again, one of the most able…

Willie Morris was one of the great under-recognized American writers of the 20th century. He grew up in Yazoo City, MS--population 12,000--where he learned to tell stories by listening to old Black men who sat in the shade and whittled. He…

I hope the House will take the matter up immediately, perhaps as early as this afternoon, and get it to the President. As has been noted, the President has indicated already he supports the extension. I think it is now up to the House to…

I will again briefly recount the events over the course of the last several months. There were bipartisan Finance Committee discussions as early as last September about an economic stimulus package. There was a hope that we could come…

today I want to honor the commanding officer at Ellsworth Air Force Base--who has just returned home after directing Air Force operations over Afghanistan and who will become a brigadier general this week. This outstanding officer, Colonel…

I had a chart that showed, in a circle, the proposals made by the Republicans and, in a circle, the proposals made by the Democrats. There is an overlap of those two circles. The list of items in that overlapped part of the two circles is…

As I said, they are not identical, but the components are found in both bills. If that isn't the definition of ``compromise,'' I honestly do not know what is. All I am suggesting is, we take that as the base vehicle and use it as the…

about an hour ago I noted that we have a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. We have talked jointly--Republicans and Democrats--about the need to do not only economic stimulus but the farm bill, the energy bill, and the…

I came to this Chamber just as we opened the session to welcome back our colleagues and staff and all of those who are so much a part of this great institution. I reiterate that welcome again this afternoon. I am sure we all hope this new…