[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 3, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2-S3]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 104TH CONGRESS IN REVIEW

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, let me commend the distinguished majority 
leader for his leadership in the 1st session of the 104th Congress.
  Let me also repeat what I said a year ago, when this Congress began: 
Democrats are willing to work with our Republican colleagues where we 
can--but we will oppose them where we have to. That is the principle 
that guided Senate Democrats last year, and the principle we will use 
again this year.
  We all wish we were beginning this new session under better 
circumstances. Instead, the Federal Government remains closed for the 
19th consecutive day. Hundreds of thousands of Federal employees are 
being forced to go without pay, and millions of taxpayers are being 
denied services for which they have already paid.
  The American people deserve better than this, Mr. President, and this 
Congress is capable of better. We proved that on a number of occasions 
last year. We proved that we could work together--Democrats and 
Republicans, Senate and House--to accomplish something worthwhile.
  Today, as we begin the second session of this Congress, I think it is 
worth reviewing those occasions on which we were able to achieve broad 
consensus last year.
  Second, let's look at the successes we achieved in this Senate when 
we were able to replace extremism with reason.
  Third, let's remember the opportunities we lost last session when we 
could not work together to do what the American people sent us here to 
do. In each case, I believe we can learn something that may help us in 
this session.
  One area in which this Congress was able to achieve broad consensus 
is congressional reform. Democrats fought in the 103d Congress for a 
Congressional Accountability Act to hold Congress to the same standards 
we demand of other employers. We fought for lobbying disclosure and a 
real gift ban. And we fought to put an end to the irresponsible 
practice of unfunded Federal mandates. We were grateful that our 
Republican colleagues finally joined us last year in supporting these 
proposals and passing them into law.
  Another important area in which Democrats and Republicans worked 
together successfully was in helping to secure the chances for peace in 
Bosnia the right way--by strengthening the NATO alliance rather than 
shattering it. While the results of our decision cannot be determined 
immediately, I am hopeful that as a result of our continued 
cooperation, we can work with the administration to see that our 
efforts in Bosnia remain a success.
  In other areas, we achieved success with smaller--but still 
bipartisan--margins. These were issues on which Democratic Senators, 
joined by a few of our moderate Republican colleagues, were able to 
temper the extremism of certain proposals sent over from the House. 
Through that effort, we avoided deep cuts in school lunch programs, and 
we preserved the rights of ordinary citizens to know what kinds of 
toxic 

[[Page S3]]
chemicals are being emitted in their neighborhoods.
  There are still other areas in which we were unable to reach 
agreement. These are, in many cases, the lost opportunities of the 
first session of this Congress. It is my hope that we will be able to 
put aside our differences and recapture those opportunities this year.
  Perhaps the greatest of these lost opportunities is welfare reform. 
We had the ability to change welfare, as we say, from a way of life to 
a way out. We had more than an opportunity; we had a bill. We passed a 
good, workable bill in this Senate that would have given people on 
welfare a real chance to support themselves and their families. But we 
lost that opportunity when extremism once again reared its ugly head in 
conference. I hope we will have the chance this year to correct that 
mistake.
  Another lost opportunity is the anti-terrorism legislation we passed 
in the Senate; 9 months after Oklahoma City, that legislation 
languishes in the House for reasons unknown.
  As the majority leader indicated, Democrats opposed the balanced 
budget amendment put forth last year by Republicans because it would 
have used Social Security funds to pay off Washington's debts and hide 
the real size of our deficit. We regard that amendment as yet another 
opportunity lost. The American people are ready--in fact they are 
demanding--that we deal with the deficit honestly.
  The 1st session of the 104th Congress, represented a number of 
disappointments. We are disappointed, frankly, that we did not pass 
welfare reform that promotes work and protects children. We are 
disappointed that we did not pass a minimum wage law, long overdue. We 
are disappointed that we did not pass even a minimum health reform 
package. We are disappointed we did not pass the campaign finance 
reform bill that should have been passed a long time ago. We are 
disappointed we did not pass meaningful farm legislation. The farm bill 
has been pending and we are well into the new crop year and farmers 
still wonder what the farm policy will be even as they begin to plant 
for the 1996 season.
  We are hopeful in the coming months we can deal with these 
disappointments in the same bipartisan fashion we dealt with issues 
from unfunded mandates to Bosnia. I remain willing to work with my 
colleagues, the majority leader, and all of my colleagues on the 
Republican side to ensure that we achieve the kinds of successes we are 
capable of in the second session of this Congress. I yield the floor.

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