Thomas Daschle

I have long been aware of an inequity imposed on small businesses in our Federal Tax Code. Our tax system discriminates against small businesses by denying the self-employed a full deduction for the expenses they incur to obtain health…

Today we begin a new session of Congress. I know all my colleagues are eager to move ahead with the Nation's business. In some ways, we face circumstances that earlier generations of Americans faced as well. At the beginning of our…

with the opening of the 104th Congress, we again witness a historic transfer of power as the Republican Party takes control of the Senate and Senator Strom Thurmond earlier today replaced Senator Robert C. Byrd as President pro tempore of…

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt congratulations to a close friend of many years, Larry Yu-Yang Wang. Larry recently left the Coordination Council for North American Affairs office in Washington, where he served…

small businesses in America embody much of what makes our country strong--the spirit of individualism and entrepreneurialism; commitment to one's workers; service to one's community; and the strongly held belief that the ``little guy'' can…

today I am proud to introduce legislation to expand the Mni Wiconi rural water project to include the Rosebud and Lower Brule Sioux Reservations. Water is a basic requirement of life. For too long both Indian and non-Indian people in this…

I join my colleague, Senator Pressler, in introducing legislation to authorize the Lewis and Clark rural water system. The Lewis and Clark rural water system is seeking authorization for the construction of a rural water system to provide…

I certainly share his view that the decisions we make on health care this year will be the most important, will be perhaps the most critical we will make in this Congress, perhaps this decade, just possibly in the careers of those who…

I would like to submit for the Record the text of an essay written by a very talented young man from my State of South Dakota. Marcus Stubbles is the winner of this year's South Dakota Voice of Democracy award. With his essay, he has…

Today we have an opportunity to enact long-overdue legislation that would increase the payments in lieu of taxes to counties. This issue is about equity. It is about the Federal Government living up to its responsibilities and it is about…

let me commend the Senator for offering this amendment and for his comments. I associate myself with his remarks. It is, really, an amazing fact, given the extraordinary difficulties we in the Senate and Congress continue to face with…

this week we had what I consider to be a very significant development. And frankly, I am a little disappointed that it has not generated more attention in the media. I am referring to a public endorsement of employer-based insurance by…

The mandate I am referring to, of course, is the status quo mandate, the mandate that says those who pay will pay for those who do not pay. If we had ever designed a new system and somebody had come to this Chamber and proposed that method…

I want to state publicly how disappointed I am with a letter recently sent by my friend and colleague, Senator Bill Bradley, and a number of others to the Environmental Protection Agency attacking their proposed renewable oxygenate…

I have been asked in recent days about polls published in a number of newspapers showing some slippage in the support for the health plan proposed by this administration. My answer to the queries that I have had is, I am not really…

as the father of three children, I worry about the effect of continued deficit spending on future generations of Americans. As a Senator from South Dakota, I fear what a future of mounting national debt will do to the quality of life of…

I come before this body today to voice my support for S. 1150, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. It is long past time to strengthen our national commitment to the most important natural resource this country possesses--its children who…

I rise today to pay tribute to someone whom I have admired for many years, Emily Taft Douglas, a writer and former Member of the House of Representatives, who died of cardiac arrest on Friday at the age of 94. Mrs. Douglas was the daughter…

Every year we spend approximately $7 billion dollars on no-obligation educational assistance for college students. This, of course, is a worthy expenditure and a prudent investment in the future of our country.