Tom Daschle

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I have a resolution at the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, this resolution is offered in the most heartfelt and sincere way. These last 2 years have been very difficult. There have been times when it has tested all of us. But no one has been more tested than the majority leader. No one has been called upon to lead in more arduous circumstances, on more occasions, than the majority leader. And as he has just noted, there have been times when we have had our differences. But I have always admired him for his remarkable ability to put aside those differences, to come to my office, to invite me to his, to talk in the most affable and personal way when the day is done. I admire that and many other of his remarkable talents. We are fortunate to have his leadership. We are fortunate to have his service to this country. And I am fortunate to have his friendship. So I congratulate him on his successful tenure as majority leader. And as he noted, our times in the future will become even more arduous, even more tested. I look forward to taking on those challenges with the same degree of enthusiasm, the same degree of willingness, to work in a partnership that I hope we can continually demonstrate. So I thank him. I wish him well and look forward to our service together in the next 2 years.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, this will be the last time, because I know others want to speak. I, too, want to congratulate the chairman and ranking member. This has been a really difficult experience. He knows it. No one knows it better than he because he had to experience it as late as 3:30 last night and as early as 6:30 this morning. We know because of a very intense debate we had within our caucus. It would not have happened without his leadership. It would not have happened without his persistence and the work of his staff--and the staff whom both the majority leader and I have been fortunate to have serve with us as we have attempted to put this package together. I congratulate him. I thank him. I also congratulate the people of Alaska for the kind of representation they sent to Washington in the person of Ted Stevens. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I will use my leader time, if I may, at this time.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I congratulate Senator Robb on his remarks. I thank him very much for sharing them with all of us. These past elections brought our caucus nine new members and we hope many new opportunities to address America's priorities. But they also handed us a great disappointment, the loss of our friend and colleague, Chuck Robb. I am appreciative of the opportunity that I had just now to listen to Senator Robb, maybe for the last time on this Senate floor. I had feared he might leave without giving us a chance to thank him for his remarkable service to the Senate. It would have been like him to do so; he is an enormously modest man. In an editorial the day before the election, the Washington Post wrote: Even in the final days of a nip-and-tuck campaign, Senator Chuck Robb seems uncomfortable singing his own praises. While some voters may find this quality refreshing, Senator Robb's reluctance to tout his accomplishments hides them too effectively in a tight race. Chuck Robb's reluctance to promote himself--his commitment to sound policies over sound bites--may have cost him reelection, but they have earned him the respect of his peers and this Nation. In 12 years in this Senate--and for 8 years before that as Lieutenant Governor and then Governor of Virginia--Chuck Robb rarely spoke about himself. He has always been more comfortable speaking on behalf of others--the people whose voices too often are not heard at all. Today, on what we hope could be the last day of this Senate, I want to say just a few things about him that he will not say about himself, just to remind us what a good man--what a good man--with whom it has been our good fortune to work. As we all recall, he was elected to the Senate in 1988, with the largest vote total for any office in Virginia's history. It was the first time in 22 years that Virginia had not sent a Republican to the Senate. He has spent his Senate career working for Virginia and for what he calls the ``long-range, big picture, important issues'': national security, a balanced budget, education, and civil rights--for all Americans. He is a member of the Finance Committee and the Joint Economic Committee. He is the only Member of the Senate ever to serve simultaneously on all three national security committees: Intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Relations. He is a former member of the Budget and Commerce Committees, as well as the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, where he cochaired a task force that declassified and released vast quantities of information on missing U.S. service members. Quietly, with little fanfare, he has provided a steady leadership that has helped keep our Nation safe and move us forward. He is a lifelong fiscal conservative. In 1993, he voted for the deficit reduction plan that launched the strongest economic recovery in our Nation's history. He remains an important part of the Senate's economic conscience, always reminding us that our job isn't finished, that we must pay down our national debt. He has been a tireless fighter for education, the chief sponsor of our proposal to help States and local school districts build and renovate 6,000 schools. He fought to reduce class sizes by hiring 100,000 teachers and to make America's schools safer and stronger. He helped create new partnerships to connect every school in America to the Internet. He is as hard a worker as you will find in this body. In 12 years as a Senator, incredibly, he has missed only 10 votes. As chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1991 and 1992, Chuck Robb shattered fundraising records and ended his term with the strongest majority for our party in 20 years. He cares deeply about the values on which our party is founded. But there are values he holds even more dearly than party loyalty. A reporter asked him recently who his political heroes are. He listed two. One was the late Bill Spong, another thoughtful, effective Virginian, who served one term in this Senate and was the first southern Senator from a State covered by the Voting Rights Act to vote for the act. He said his other political hero was a man we all knew, our friend, John Chafee, ``because he worried about women's health, poor children, and the environment, and reached across party lines to find solutions.'' Reaching across party lines, being willing to work and look in new places for new solutions--that is something Senator Robb has done his entire life. He grew up in a Republican family. He is a founder and past chairman of the centrist Democratic Leadership Committee, and one of the original architects for what we now know and call ``the third way'' in politics. His ground-breaking ideas on the changing economy, new models of governing, and other ideas helped transform political thinking--not only in this country but in England and in nations all over the world. Quietly, modestly, throughout his career, he has tried to reach honest, bipartisan compromise on an array of issues. Here in the Senate, he has worked closely with his colleague, Senator Warner, on issues of importance to Virginia and our national security. As a member of our caucus' Centrist Coalition, he has helped us all try to find a middle ground. I would be sorry to see Chuck Robb leave the Senate at any time. The fact that he is leaving now--when we so desperately need people who are able to see beyond the usual party divisions--makes his leaving doubly sad. Chuck Robb only lost one other political contest in his life, when he ran for senior class president at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Speaking about that loss later to a reporter, he said it gave him something important. As he put it: ``I needed a little taking down. Anybody who goes too long without some setback in life tends to lose an important perspective.'' One of the things Chuck Robb came to understand about himself back then was how much he loved this Nation and how much he felt he owed it. It was that sense of patriotism that compelled him to enter the Marines after graduating from college. It was that sense of patriotism, too, that made him volunteer to go to Vietnam. He didn't have to go; he could have served stateside. In fact, the Pentagon brass would have preferred it. They worried about what might happen if a President's son-in-law were taken captive and used to extract concessions from the United States. But Chuck Robb insisted. In April of 1968, 2 months after the Tet offensive, he landed in Vietnam, commander of an infantry company. Two weeks later, he was in combat. In Vietnam, he earned the Bronze Star with the Combat V, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with the Silver Star, and the rank of major. Most people who knew him, including his extraordinary wife Lynda, expected Major Robb to make a career of the military. And he did remain in the Marine Reserves for a long period of time, all the way until 1991, serving a total of 34 years in uniform. But he also found another way to serve his Nation. In 1977, the people of Virginia chose Chuck Robb as their Lieutenant Governor--the only Democrat elected that year to statewide office. Four years later, they made him Virginia's 64th Governor--the first Virginian Democrat elected Governor in 16 years. As Governor, he championed many of the same causes he would later fight for in this Chamber. He invested $1 billion in Virginia's schools--without raising taxes. He fought for civil rights. As President, his father-in-law, Lyndon Johnson, appointed the first African American to the U.S. Supreme Court--Thurgood Marshall. As Governor, Chuck Robb appointed the first African American to the Virginia Supreme Court, as well. He signed the legislation adding Martin Luther King's name to a State holiday that had formerly honored only Confederate Civil War heroes. His fellow Governors recognized his exceptional talents. He served as chairman of the Southern Governors' Association and the Democratic Governors' Association. He chaired the Education Commission of the States and the Council of State Governments. Even during the toughest political fights of his life, Chuck Robb did not like to tell people these things about himself. When others praised him for his accomplishments, he was always quick to say that it was ``we'' who deserved the praise, not ``he.'' His genuine modesty is one of the things that makes Chuck Robb a Senator's Senator. Another is his courage to fight for principle, even when he knows it will cost him politically. Chuck Robb has done that over and over and over again in this Chamber. One instance I will always remember came last March when he stood on this floor and explained--in a deeply personal, eloquent way--why he opposed amending our Constitution to make flag burning a crime. As someone who saw too many good men die for what our flag represents, he said he felt a sense of revulsion when he saw the flag treated disrespectfully. But--in Senator Robb's words--``they died for liberty and tolerance, for Justice and equality. They died for that which can never burn. They died for ideals that can only be desecrated by our failure to defend them.'' Someone once asked Senator Robb why he took such politically risky stands--especially in an election year. He said that--because he had been in combat--``I thought that I could speak out on some issues with less concern about the downside than some other Senators might have to think about.'' I don't know if he was right in that calculation. I do know this: On this day in 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified when Virginia approved it. One reason it has never once been weakened--in all these years--is the brave and principled stand of Virginia's Senator, Chuck Robb. There are many things about the next Senate which I look forward to. I deeply regret, however, that Chuck Robb will not be with us. His departure is a loss not only for our caucus but for this entire Senate and for our Nation. Our Senate family will also deeply miss Lynda Johnson Robb, who is here today. She has given so much to our Nation throughout her life. And she continues to serve America as the National Chair of Reading is FUNdamental, and as Vice Chairman of America's Promise, the national service partnership. Last week, Chuck and Lynda celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we wish them belated congratulations--and best wishes on their future endeavors. In that same interview in which Senator Robb listed his political heroes, he was also asked: What is your most inspirational quotation? He cited the words of Teddy Roosevelt: The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena--whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood . . . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions--and spends himself on a worthy cause--who at best, if he wins, knows the thrill of high achievement--and if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly--so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory, nor defeat. Throughout his career, Chuck Robb has lived up to those words. He has been in the arena. He has fought for worthy causes. And he has inspired us all to be better Senators. I am proud to call him a friend. We will all miss him. Let me also take this opportunity to say thank you, and best wishes, to our other fellow Senators who will not be rejoining us next year: On our side of the aisle: Senator Dick Bryan, Senator Bob Kerrey, Senator Frank Lautenberg, and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. And our friends across the aisle. . . . Senators Abraham, Ashcroft, Gorton, Grams, Mack, and Roth. It's an honor to have served with all of them. I wish them well in all of their future pursuits.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate South Dakota's Josh Heupel, quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners, on his incredible season leading his top-ranked and undefeated football team to the National Championship game. I am tremendously proud of the achievements of a fellow South Dakotan and Aberdeen Central graduate. I am not the first and certainly will not be the last to praise Josh for his accomplishments. Josh passed for 3,392 yards and 20 touchdowns this season and led his team through a difficult schedule of worthy opponents. It is no surprise that Josh received so many honors this year: he was named Player of the Year by the Walter Camp Football Foundation; College Football Player of the Year by the Associated Press; and College Football Player of the Year by the Sporting News. Most recently he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, South Dakota's first Heisman Finalist. While he may have felt some disappointment in not winning, Josh handled himself with the maturity and grace that has molded him into a fine young leader and allows him to put team accomplishments and goals before his personal feats. I believe Josh's success at the national level is the result of natural ability coupled with hard work and drive. But he has not been content with excellence simply in the athletic realm. He has also committed himself to civic duty, visiting sick children in hospitals and coordinating food drives, and has been a dedicated student. More than that, he lives by ideals instilled in him by his family--his parents Ken and Cindy, and sister Andrea--and the values and life experiences gained in South Dakota. He is an inspiration to all of us, young and old, teaching us to follow our dreams but stay close to our values. I speak for South Dakota when I say that we proud of Josh Heupel and we wish him the best of luck as he leads his team into the National Championship game on January 3d and in his future athletic and academic endeavors.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, although there are a lot of good things in the bill we are about to debate, there is one glaring omission-- legislation to provide Amtrak with the authority to issue tax credit bonds for capital improvements. This bonding authority is critical to Amtrak's future and to the economic health of the northeast and many other areas of the country. I have discussed this issue with members of my caucus. We had a very spirited discussion in our caucus this morning, and I know how strongly they support Amtrak and this legislation. We are very disappointed this provision was not included in this otherwise praiseworthy legislation. Amtrak supporters will not give up on passing it. In order to help them secure enactment of this important measure next year, the majority leader and I have discussed and agreed on how best to proceed. I yield the floor to allow the majority leader to describe what that understanding is at this time.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Reserving the right to object.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I will have more to say about that matter at another time. But let me also, again, associate myself with the remarks of the majority leader, except to say I was delighted he was there in the chair to break those tie votes on occasion. He has served his country well in so many roles over the years, including his years in the Senate, both as a Senator and as the President of the Senate. We congratulate him and thank him for his work, as well.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I associate myself with the remarks of the distinguished majority leader. I have admired the distinguished President pro tempore for a lot of reasons. But his diligence in opening the session every day, and his willingness to be as prompt as he always is, is something admired on both sides of the aisle. So for all of his effort, for all of his service, for his willingness to serve as he has, we thank him. I thank the majority leader for yielding.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, again, I want to identify myself with the remarks of the majority leader. These staff are the best there could be. I thank them, on behalf of the entire Senate, for their hard work, for their professionalism, for the level of commitment they make each and every time they come to work. I thank them for what they do. There are so many ways we ought to stop throughout the year and express ourselves in as heartfelt a way as we can, but at least now at the end of this Congress, we ought to say--with an exclamation point--thank you. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for who you are. Thank you for what you give each and every day. Mr. REID addressed the Chair.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, although the Senate will not resume work in earnest today on the issues remaining before the 106th Congress, we certainly hope that when we do return on the 5th of December we will be able to complete action on the appropriations bills, the minimum wage increase, the Balanced Budget Refinement Act, and deal with the immigration issue, as well as a fair and balanced tax relief package. In the 3 weeks until then, I certainly hope that both parties and the administration will redouble their efforts to reach agreement on these important issues. We do not have to wait until we get back. It is so troubling that we are so close to the end of the calendar year and we do not have as much to show for our efforts over the last 2 years as I would have liked. The lameduck session will give us an opportunity to make progress on each of those issues. I hope we will seize that opportunity. I have spoken with the majority leader about this issue, and about our desire to complete our work in a positive way. I think we agree: We need to work closely together in the final days of this Congress. He certainly reiterated his desire to do that. When we left before the election, everyone assumed we would return to a relative certainty. We assumed we would have a President-elect. We assumed we would know the balance of power in the next Congress. Of course, to everyone's surprise, we still do not know either of these things. The situation in which we now find ourselves is virtually unprecedented. It certainly is unusual. But with the elections this close, a period of uncertainty is certainly unavoidable. While none of us has ever seen such a close Presidential election, some of us have seen this on a smaller scale. I am one of those people. In 1978, in my first race for election to the House of Representatives, I was behind by 28 votes at the end of election night and was declared the loser. The next day, amid much confusion, I was actually declared the winner by 14 votes. Talk about a roller coaster ride. And that was just the first day. Over the next few months, after more recounts, and the discovery of computational errors, and more confusion, the election went all the way to the South Dakota Supreme Court. In August of 1979, the court heard oral arguments and examined every ballot. Finally, on November 27, 1979--more than a year after the election-- the South Dakota Supreme Court issued its decision. It added 5 more votes to the earlier total and declared me the winner by a margin of 110 votes, which I like to say in South Dakota is about 60 percent. In recounting this story, I am not suggesting that we can afford to take that much time in getting a fair and accurate count in this Presidential election. Clearly, because of the surpassing importance of the Presidency, this election must be decided on an expedited basis. I am confident that it will be. Instead, I tell this story to illustrate the point that our system has dealt successfully with close elections in the past. My first race for Congress is just one example. There are many others. Even as we speak, votes are still being counted in another too- close-to-call race: the Senate race in Washington State. Since last Tuesday, many colleagues have told me of similar experiences in their own elections. To a person, they all agree that the important thing is to take whatever time is needed to get a fair and accurate vote count. That is the only way to maintain public confidence in the outcome of the election. So yes, this is an unusual situation. But it is not a constitutional crisis. In a Newsweek poll taken over the weekend, Americans were asked which was more important: Resolving the uncertainty over the election now so we know who the next President will be Or making certain to remove all reasonable doubt that the vote count in Florida is fair and accurate. By a margin of 3 to 1, Americans say it is more important to get the results right than to get them right now. Their response is proof of their faith in our system of government. It is a system of unequaled strength and stability. And it should be allowed to work. What we all need right now is patience. What we do not need is ``spin'' from people with vested interests in the outcome. It was particularly disturbing earlier today to see a representative of the Bush campaign on national television announce what he called a ``compromise offer.'' In fact, his proposal merely restated his campaign's previous position that ballots counted by hand after 5 o'clock this evening should be ignored. He then went on to cite fluctuations in the stock market as proof that a winner must be declared in the presidential election now--even if it means sacrificing a full and fair count. I hope that everyone involved in this critically important matter would refrain from such overheated rhetoric. It is not helpful to this process. We are all anxious to know who our next President is. We all want finality. But not at the expense of fairness. That is what the Vice President wants. That is what the American people want. That is what I believe Democrats and Republicans want. That is what is needed to reassure voters in Florida and all across America that their votes in this election counted. That is what is needed for Americans to reassure Americans that their faith in our election system is well-founded. Regardless of who they voted for as long as Americans have this reassurance I believe they will accept the outcome of this election and give our next President their support. It is worth exercising a little patience to get that result. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. As I understand it, we do not have an objection to taking up the continuing resolution under a voice vote.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I just do so to inquire of the majority leader about the schedule for the remainder of the day. It appears that the only remaining legislative item to be taken up today may be the continuing resolution.

Mr. DASCHLE. We do have an objection?

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I will use my leader time to depart from the ongoing colloquy with regard to the cloture vote on the bankruptcy bill to talk about the status of negotiations on the Labor and Education bill that has been the subject of a good deal of discussion over the last several days. I think the headlines give us the current state of affairs with regard to the bill probably as succinctly as any headline can. The Washington Post, from a front page story above the fold this morning, simply stated the fact: ``Budget Deal is Torpedoed by House GOP. Move by leadership angers negotiators on both sides.'' That was the Washington Post. The Los Angeles Times said it as well in their headline: ``GOP Leaders Scuttle Deal in Budget Battle.'' They go on to describe exactly what happened in the budget battle on education over the course of the last several days. The Washington Times had virtually the same headline, which simply read: ``House Leaders Spike Deal On Budget.'' The only word missing in most of these is the word ``education.'' Because that is what the budget was about, the fight was about what kind of a commitment to education we ought to be making in this new fiscal year, now well underway. This is the last day of October. Of course, the fiscal year began on the first day of October. While the headlines didn't say it, this is what they were talking about. We had a bipartisan plan that was worked out over the last several days with great effort on the part of Chairman Stevens and Chairman Young, certainly on the part of Senator Byrd, Senator Harkin, Congressman Obey. They worked until 2:30 Monday morning to craft what arguably could have been the single most important investment we will make in education in any fiscal year in the history of the United States. That is quite a profound and dramatic statement. I don't think it is hyperbole because we were prepared to invest more in education, more in smaller classes, more in qualified teachers, more in modern school buildings, more in afterschool programs, with a far better accountability program, with increased Pell grants, with more investment for children with disabilities and those preparing to go to college than we have ever made in a commitment to education in our Nation's history. That was what was on the table. Of course, as we negotiated these very complicated and controversial provisions dealing not only with education but whether or not we can protect worker safety, all of those issues had to be considered very carefully. It was only with the admonition of all the leaders to give and to try to find a way to resolve our differences that we were able ultimately to close the deal, resolve the differences, and move forward with every expectation that the Senate and House would then be in a position to vote on this historic achievement as early as Tuesday afternoon. That is what happened. So instead, today we are debating cloture on the bankruptcy conference report when we could have had an incredible opportunity to put the pieces together to give children real hope, to give school districts all over this country for the first time the confidence they need that they can address the myriad of problems they are facing in education today; to say, yes, we are going to commit, as we have over the last couple years, to ensure we have the resources to reduce class size and to hire those teachers and to break through, finally, on school modernization and school construction. We could have addressed the need for 6,000 new schools with the modernization plan that was on the table when the collapse occurred. I come to the floor dismayed, disheartened, and extraordinarily disappointed that this had to happen, that the House leaders, House Republican leaders, spiked a deal that could have created this historic achievement. What do we tell the schoolteachers? What do we tell the students? What do we tell all of those people waiting patiently and expectantly, who are hoping we could put partisanship aside and do what we came here to do. Forget the rhetoric, forget the conflicts, forget all the things we were supposed to forget in bringing this accomplishment about. I don't know where we go from here, but this is part of a pattern. It isn't just education. There is an array of other issues. And perhaps this is an appropriate day to remind my colleagues of, once again, the GOP legislative graveyard. We can put up, perhaps, another tombstone today. I think we can still revive this. Somehow I think there is still a possibility that we can do this. I don't know if it will happen this week--I don't know when it will happen--but I can't believe we are going to turn away from having accomplished what we could have accomplished with all of this. Everybody understands that we may not have another chance. I am not prepared to put education into the legislative graveyard Republicans have created. But there isn't much chance we are going to deal with pay equity this year. There is no chance we are going to deal with campaign finance reform. Let us make absolutely certain that when we come back early next year, we enact the Patients' Bill of Rights. That is a tombstone for the 106th Congress. Hate crimes, judicial nominations, the Medicare drug benefit, gun safety: all are tombstones to inaction. All are a recognition of the failure of this Congress to come to grips with the real problems our country is facing, a realization that now there is not much we can do anything about, except to rededicate ourselves to ensure that we will never let this Congress again take up issues of this import and leave them buried in the legislative graveyard. Let us hope that we can revive school modernization and smaller class size. Let us hope that somehow, in the interest of doing what is right--we recognize how close we were Monday night, we recognize how important it is that we not give up, we recognize how critical it is that something as important as education will not be relegated to this legislative graveyard, or any other. Let us hope that in the interest of our children, in the interest of recognizing the importance of bipartisan achievement in this Congress, that we will do what is right, that we will take these headlines and turn them around and change them into headlines such as ``GOP Leaders And Democratic Leaders Agree on Budget Deal,'' or ``Democratic Leaders And Republican Leaders Agree To Historic Education Achievement''; with editorials that would say to the effect that, at long last, we have given children hope all over this country and we have given schools the opportunity to reduce their class size and improve educational quality without exception. That is still within our grasp. I must say, the tragedy of all tragedies would be, somehow in the name of partisanship and in the name of whatever competition some may feel with the administration on this or any other issue, that we fail to do what is right; we fail to make a commitment that we know we can; and that we end up building more monuments to the lack of progress and real commitment to the issues about which people care most. Mr. President, I come to the floor with the expectation that we can overcome the obstacles that remain and we truly can make a difference on education in this Congress. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Will the Senator from Massachusetts yield for a moment?

Mr. DASCHLE. I ask the Senator from Massachusetts this: Obviously, there are many times when we are called upon to vote. But I have never heard of a time when the ranking member of a conference was denied even access to the text of whatever it was he was conferencing on. Let me ask the Senator from Massachusetts, has he now seen a copy of the conference report?

Mr. DASCHLE. Is it the Senator's understanding that the entire conference report is what we have in our hands--two pages?

Mr. DASCHLE. Well, as I say, I note in amusement, the Senator spent some time talking about the President's veto letter, and I am amused in part because the Speaker has already addressed the veto letter and was asked yesterday if Republicans would be willing to rework the tax cut bill after a veto. He responded--I hope colleagues will listen--that any new legislation would have to go through committee, and anything else would amount to half--I will call it ``half-baked'' legislation. He has another term, but I don't think I want to dignify it this morning. Anything other than a committee process is half-baked, according to the Speaker. Maybe that is how we leave out minimum wage reauthorization. Maybe that is how we leave out Democratic proposals, as the Senator from Nebraska had offered in the committee, along with others, to make this more fair. Maybe that is how it happens. Maybe you don't produce a bill this thick because you don't care about fairness; you don't care about getting it right. I ask the Senator from Massachusetts whether he would care to observe whether he has had, in his experience as ranking member, a time when he has ever seen legislation coming to the floor in this form, leaving out provisions that literally nullify a law that has been standing now for almost 70 years?

Mr. DASCHLE. I thank him and commend him for his powerful statement and the eloquence with which he has described our current circumstance. I appreciate especially his interest in reading into the Record many of the concerns the President expressed in his letter to all of us yesterday. I also appreciate his contribution to the caucus as we have attempted to work through how we ought to respond to this very unusual set of circumstances. He is our ranking member on the Committee on Small Business. He indicated to me yesterday that there was no consultation prior to the time this conference report was brought to the Senate. I ask the Senator from Massachusetts if he could elaborate first on what consultation, what degree of communication there was in coming to the floor and in talking about this bill. To what extent was his signature sought prior to the time we came to the floor?

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DASCHLE. I will respond, if I could reclaim my time, and say that I know the President has expressed concern on several occasions about the tendency for those of us who serve in the Congress to leave and then not to come back until close to the end of whatever CR timeframe we have been allotted. I think that is the President's concern, that if we were to go to Monday or Tuesday, most likely we probably would not revisit these questions until Monday or Tuesday. But we can certainly discuss the matter at greater length and attempt to see what opportunities for real progress we are going to be making. We are now 28 days into the new fiscal year, and we still have a lot of work, especially on appropriations bills, that remains to be done. So it would be my hope that we could maximize every day. And he is right; it is very rare that we have met on Saturdays--or Sundays, for that matter. It would not be our intention to make a regular practice of it, but these are extraordinary circumstances, without a doubt. I think each day should be used, with the maximum opportunity that each day affords us, to try to resolve these issues and get our work done. I don't like staying. I had plans this weekend myself. I was going to go home to South Dakota. It does not appear that is going to be possible. But I would say, certainly, if we are here we ought to be maximizing the use of our time. I think that is what the President intends. Certainly, we ought to attempt to do as well with each day that remains. I would also say that we ought to go into this with an attitude that we are going to complete our work successfully. There is no reason why we cannot finish C-J-S. There isn't any reason we cannot finish Labor- HHS. There isn't any reason we can't come to an agreement on the remaining outstanding issues. There is very little disagreement about the need to address each of these issues. We know we have to address education in the appropriations bill. We know we have to address the Balanced Budget Reform Act and the extraordinary problems that our health facilities are facing. We know we have to face and address the issues having to do with Commerce-State-Justice and especially immigration. So there are a lot of issues that demand we stay and resolve them. I think we ought to use the weekend to keep negotiating, to try to find a way to resolve these matters, before we get well into next week. Basically, I think the bottom line for many of us is, if we can make these bills more fair, if we can address fairness with regard to immigration, if we can address fairness with regard to the BBA bill and the tax bill, if we can address fairness with regard to education and school construction--if we can do all that in a fair and meaningful way, we can resolve these matters and be done by the middle of next week. There is no reason why we should not. It seems to me we waste opportunities by allowing Senators to leave town and expect somehow they will come back. But I am certainly more than willing to talk about it and see if we can make the most of what days remain.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I rise to support the reauthorization of the Senate's National Security Working Group--NSWG. The NSWG was created last year as the successor to the Arms Control Observer Group, a group that had served the Senate well for over a decade. Like its predecessor, the purpose of the NSWG is to be the Senate's non-partisan eyes and ears on defense and national security issues. Unlike nearly every other group in the Senate and the Congress, the National Security Working Group is composed of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. This makeup was intended to ensure the NSWG worked by consensus. No single Senator or political party could dominate the group's agenda or actions. Establishing a group with equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans was also intended to signify that the Senate believes the issues that come before this group are too important to be discussed in a partisan setting. These were the objectives the Senate had in mind when it unanimously approved the legislation authorizing the formation of this important group. They remain the objectives today. Although the group worked together relatively well in the year since it was established, a number of us believe it could work a little bit better if we formally spelled out some simple rules of the road to govern the group's routine activities. Therefore, at the same time we re-authorize the NSWG, I would also like to insert for the record a series of administrative procedures that clearly spell out how the group should conduct its business. As put forward in these procedures, the group's administrative co-chairmen must recommend travel in writing to the Majority and Minority leaders and both leaders must approve the travel request in writing. They encourage member participation and indicate that staff travel should be the exception not the rule. It is my understanding that these procedures have been agreed by both leaders and the majority and minority co-chairmen of the NSWG. I believe their adoption will help meet the objectives we all hold for this unique and important group. I ask unanimous consent they be printed in the Record.