Thomas Daschle

I want to talk today about several agricultural issues. First, last week, I met with John Stewart and Bill Fielding. They run a company called Creekstone Farms that sells premium Black Angus beef cattle. Creekstone had a good marketing…

I want very much to be able to continue to work on the underlying bill and find a way to resolve many of the outstanding issues. I think we have made some progress today. Obviously, this is a piece of legislation that provides an…

Today is the funeral of another American. This American fought for 50 years, in her own inimitable way, to defend the ideals of our democracy. Mary McGrory was the most elegant political writer I have ever known, and one of the bravest…

South Dakotans have a proud tradition of military service and volunteerism. Today, in Iraq, a new generation is carrying that tradition forward. South Dakota's percentage of its citizens serving in active duty in Iraq is among the highest…

I agree. I think the funding and the so-called economic issues are critical to finding a solution. If we can't get a fair funding level that provides just compensation to victims and certainty to businesses, then we won't be able to…

If the Senator is asking me a question, I respond by saying, absolutely. But let me give him one illustration of my skepticism about his question. There must have been now, as he said, 20--maybe more--staff meetings over the course of the…

It is counterproductive. We are concerned that in many respects the legislation before the Senate actually is a step backward from what was passed out of committee, and that was viewed by people in our country and in the Senate on both…

I am disappointed we have come to debate the asbestos issue under these circumstances. I agree with much of what the majority leader has said about the need for the Senate and our country to constructively address this problem. I agree…

Under this new proposal, those who have already been given a judgment, have done everything within their power to resolve this matter using the current system, will be told that effort is now nullified and they will have to restart under…

yesterday's New York Times Magazine contained a very insightful article written by our colleague from New York, Senator Clinton. This article, entitled ``Now Can We Talk About Health Care?,'' is truly a call to action. Senator Clinton…

I rise for the sole purpose of acknowledging the terrible, growing toll this war is taking on some of America's finest citizens and their families. More than 700 American troops have died in the war, and this month, as we all know, has…

many Members have been troubled by the fact that we are, apparently, after all of the work we have made to get to a point where we have a finite list, more extensive perhaps than either of us would like on the FSC bill, we are actually not…

the conference report on the Pension bill is another example of a broken legislative process. We passed a good bill in the Senate. There was bipartisan cooperation. Two committees-- Chairs and Rankings--worked together in a constructive…

I recently learned the story of a young Indian girl from South Dakota. Last year, when she began to lose weight and feel stomach pains, she traveled to a nearby Indian Health Service clinic. She was diagnosed with heartburn, and since IHS…

This bill actually differentiates between those who walk in the front door of a hospital and those who get emergency care. We objected last time we voted on this because it differentiated between men and women. Men and women would be…

I have indicated to Senator Frist that I feel strongly about the importance of working with him to try to finish deliberations on this bill. Instead, what we have gotten from some on the other side is just a lot of posturing. This was the…

in the last 3 years, America has lost nearly 3 million private-sector jobs, including nearly 2.9 million good manufacturing jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are 8.2 million Americans out of work today. But that doesn't…

I join the majority leader and all the Members of our body in congratulating Senator Byrd on reaching this historic milestone. I thank him for his half century of service to the U.S. Congress. Seventeen thousand votes is an astonishing…

this issue is very important. If we really want to help people move from welfare to work, we ought to increase the minimum wage. First, I wish to identify myself with the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts and what he just said about…

the House was scheduled to take up its version of the transportation bill yesterday. At the eleventh hour--or rather at 7 a.m. this morning--the Rules Committee met and appears to have finally found a way to bring the bill to the House…

I answer the distinguished assistant Democratic leader by saying that is exactly the case. We had an extraordinarily effective demonstration of bipartisanship in taking up the highway bill. I worked closely with Senator Frist. I say to the…

I appreciate very much the desire of the majority leader and our friends on the other side of the aisle in addressing many of these issues. He mentioned the JOBS bill, welfare reform reauthorization, and the importance of reaching some…

last week I spoke about the White House's reaction to Richard Clarke's testimony before the 9/11 Commission. I am compelled today to rise again because the people around the President are systematically abusing the powers and the…

As of this day, March 26, I answer the Senator from Nevada, we have approved 173 judges and 419 nonjudicial nominations by this administration. I don't know whether the nontraditional nominations is some kind of record over 3 years, but we…

There have only been 3 out of 173 now that have not been given the authority to serve on the bench and, as I said, for good reason--either their unwillingness to cooperate with the nominating process or fulfill their obligation to provide…