Thomas Daschle

This is unnecessary gridlock. This has nothing to do with the Democratic minority. This has everything to do with Republicans simply not allowing the Senate to be the Senate. I do not recall a time--and we can go back and check--when my…

We ought to be for business, probusiness, just as this administration has shown itself to be with so many of its policies. Business has never had a better 3-year period than they have had in the last 3 years. We have seen growth in this…

I guess I begin by saying, here we go again. Once again, the Republicans have put together a package that they know will go nowhere. We have one of two choices here. We can pass legislation, or we can play games. If this package is good…

Obviously, we have attempted in good faith to offer the minimum wage amendment to a number of other bills simply because, as the minority, we do not have the opportunity to have an up-or-down vote on the minimum wage. Studies have shown…

I admire the majority leader a great deal, as he knows. We all know what he is trying to do. We all know that the President, for good reason, opposes the TEAM Act, especially in its current form. Why? Because it gives license to companies…

let me just respond briefly, and I know the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts is prepared to respond as well. We have discussed as many scenarios as the imagination will allow. This is yet another iteration. Basically, all we have…

once again, I commend the distinguished Senator from Utah for appealing to reason and calm. I was thinking just as I was listening to his thoughtful remarks about how easy it would be to easily insert the minimum wage as he made an appeal…

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…

I believe as he believes, and there is no one who cares more deeply about comity in this body than does the distinguished Senator from Utah--about the need for comity, about the need for ways in which to resolve our differences in a…

I find the selective memory very intriguing, and I certainly appreciate the good words by so many of our colleagues about the impact that the 4-cent gasoline tax has had. What I am surprised at is that they have chosen not to also direct…

There is no one more responsible for the fact that those actions have been extraordinarily beneficial to cattle producers across this country than the President himself. The President and I discussed, as he did with other Senators, the…

I fully support Senator Harkin's amendment to require the INS to have full-time staff in every State. Currently, South Dakota is one of only 3 States that do not have a permanent INS presence. Although South Dakota does not have the…

I am pleased to be able to respond to the Senator from Massachusetts, that was really the reason I wanted to come out, to address that very point. Obviously, there are some of our Republican friends who would like to make this current…

I respond to the Senator that, yes, indeed, we would be prepared to enter into any short time agreement. We would not have to have amendments. We have had the opportunity to debate this issue, to talk about it. In 1990, when this issue…

I do not want to delay the vote. I know everybody wants to move on. This issue has two pieces to it. The first is the one the Senator from Massachusetts described, relating to our determination to get a vote on the minimum wage. The other…

I am optimistic, given our conversations in the last few hours, that we might be able to find a way in which to schedule the vote on the minimum wage in the not too distant future. I am very hopeful that that can be done, that we can…

The Senate family this week lost one of its own, Gayle Cory, the former postmaster of the Senate, who died of cancer on Wednesday evening. Gayle's Senate career spanned 35 years. Beginning as a receptionist with Senator Ed Muskie in 1959…

Teddy Roosevelt said that, ``Conservation is a great moral issue, for it involves the patriotic duty of ensuring the safety and continuance of the nation.'' As a result of the translation of that ethic into the legislative process, and the…

I was fortunate enough to travel with two colleagues who, in the past, have indicated a great deal of interest in Bosnia and other countries of the former Yugoslavia, the distinguished Senator from Nevada, Senator Reid, and the senior…

Mr. President, given the very short period of time we have remaining, and the fact that all of the arguments have been made, let me simply summarize the case against including MSA's on this bill. Two years ago we all agreed that…

the Senate is about to reauthorize the special committee's operations for a specific, limited period. It is my understanding, and that of all my colleagues on this side of the aisle, that the special committee will conclude its hearing…

Mr. President, it is with sadness--and tremendous gratitude for the work their lives exemplified--that I add my voice to those honoring Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and the extraordinary men and women who died with him on that plane. I am…

I thought we had completed the discussion on immigration. But since it appears that is not the case, let me respond again. We did not pull the bill. We could be on that bill right now. We could be taking up amendments right now. We have…

We have seen a number of Republicans as well as Democrats--in fact, almost unanimously the Democrats and many Republicans have indicated their support in votes taken earlier last year. So clearly we have a majority vote in the Senate in…

The answer is very simple. Obviously, if we could put some sort of cost of living adjustment in the minimum wage we would do so. We would do so today. We would do so any time. Obviously that is not possible. So we have to revisit the issue…