[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 27909-27910]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    2001 IN REVIEW: A SENATE (MOSTLY) EQUAL TO THESE HISTORIC TIMES

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we are all tired. This has been a long 
day in what has been a long week and a long session. But before we go 
our separate ways for the holidays, I want to thank my colleagues for 
the support and kindness they have shown me during my short time as 
majority leader.
  I thank our staffs, the many hard-working men and women who enable us 
to do our jobs--from the Capitol Police to the Official Reporters who 
transcribe our debates, the people in the cloakroom, the people who 
serve our meals, the doorkeepers, the pages, and so many others. The 
public may not know their names, but we know the Senate could not 
function without them.
  On a very personal note, I want to say a special word of thanks to my 
own staff. In the last 3 months, they have experienced the horrors of 
September 11 as we all did, but they have undergone an additional 
challenge few of us ever have, or will, face.
  Two months ago my staff, along with members of Senator Feingold's 
staff, and law enforcement officers, were exposed to lethal levels of 
anthrax when a letter containing that deadly bacteria was opened in my 
office. I am pleased to report that they are all healthy today, and I 
am proud to say that they have continued to work throughout all of this 
time.
  They are victims of terrorism. Yet they have spent the last 2 months 
dedicated to the effort to protect the rest of America from a truly 
similar fate. Their courage and their grace is truly heroic and a 
source of inspiration to me.
  They are extraordinary people who have endured extraordinary 
circumstances. I could not be more proud of them.
  We started this year appropriately in unusual circumstances. For 17 
days between the day this Congress was sworn in and the day President 
Bush was sworn in, Democrats held the majority in the Senate. I joked 
back then that I intended to savor every one of my 17 days as majority 
leader. As it turns out, those days were just a preamble.
  For nearly 6 months now, I have again had the rare privilege of 
serving as majority leader of this Senate. While I can't say I have 
enjoyed every day of these last 6 months--our country has experienced 
too much sadness for that to be true--I am honored to have had the 
chance to work with all. I am proud of much of what we have been able 
to achieve together.
  We made history this year, not just once, but over and over again. It 
was a year ago this month that the Supreme Court issued its ruling--the 
first time in history that the Supreme Court had intervened to settle a 
Presidential

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election. We started this Congress last January as the first 50-50 
Senate in our Nation's history. Some observers predicted we would never 
be able to agree on a plan to divide power fairly and efficiently, but 
we did.
  Then in late May, Senator Jeffords made his historic and 
extraordinary decision to leave his party and become the Senate's only 
officially Independent Member. Never before had majority control of the 
Senate changed on the basis of one Senator's decision. Again, we made 
history, and we made it work.
  Then came the horrific morning of September 11. Even now, more than 3 
months later, it is hard to imagine the magnitude of that loss. If you 
read one name every minute, it would take more than 3 days to read the 
list of all those who died on September 11.
  A little more than a month later, the anthrax letter was opened in my 
office. The Hart Building became the site of the largest anthrax spill 
anywhere, ever, and the largest biological weapons attack in our 
Nation's history.
  More than once during these 6 months I have found myself thinking 
about the words of America's second President, John Adams.
  In 1774, John Adams wrote in his diary of his concerns over the 
quality of the members of the Continental Congress, ``We have not men 
for these times,'' he worried. ``We are deficient in genius, in 
education, in travel, in fortune, in everything.''
  That is how our Founders saw themselves: deficient in almost every 
way. Yet they went on to create the world's greatest experiment, now 
the world's oldest democracy.
  I suspect we have all wondered, at least once or twice since 
September 11, whether the men and women of this Senate are equal to 
these times. It would be hubris not to wonder.
  As this year ends, we can take some pride knowing that we were 
largely equal to our times.
  In the days following the attacks, we demonstrated greater unity than 
I have ever experienced in my years in Congress. We worked with each 
other, and with the President, for the good of the Nation.
  We gave the President the authority to use force to defeat terrorism.
  We gave law enforcement new tools and authority to pursue terrorists.
  We passed billions of dollars in emergency aid to help the 
communities and families and business devastated by the attacks of 
September 11th rebuild and recover.
  We also passed legislation to keep the airlines flying--and to make 
airports safer.
  Those measures will help our nation recover from the terrorist 
attacks, and help prevent future attacks.
  We also passed other important measures.
  Earlier this week, we sent the President a new, bipartisan bill to 
strengthen America's public schools. The new No Child Left Behind Act 
marks the first major overhaul of our Nation's education system in more 
than 35 years.
  It is a blueprint for real educational progress that includes good 
ideas from both parties. More importantly, it reflects the experiences 
and the needs of America's schoolchildren, parents, teachers, employers 
and many others who care deeply about America's schools.
  We can all take some pride in having been a part of those bipartisan 
successes.
  At the same time, we must acknowledge, there have been occasions on 
which we were not equal to our times. There have been too many 
instances when partisanship has prevented us from doing what needs to 
be done. That is deeply regrettable.
  We should have passed a genuine economic recovery plan to lift up 
America's economy and help laid-off workers. In the first weeks after 
the terrorist attacks, we worked together to craft such a plan. Even 
after Republican leaders walked away from that bipartisan effort, we 
continued to try to reach out to them.
  We compromised repeatedly on the details of our proposal--all to no 
avail. In the end, we could not accept a plan that takes $211 billion 
out of Social Security and gives most of it, in the form of tax cuts, 
to the wealthiest individuals and corporations in this country. And our 
colleagues would accept no less.
  We should have passed a farm bill this year.
  We talk a lot about families that have fallen on hard times in the 
last year, especially those who are economic victims of September 11. 
And we should be concerned about these families.
  But what about America's farm and ranch families? The recession 
didn't start two quarters ago for them. They have been battling near-
Depression conditions in the farm economy for years now.
  Prices for many commodities are lower today than any time since the 
Government started keeping records, back in 1910.
  If you don't know who these families are, come to South Dakota. 
You'll see: they are some of the hardest-working people in this 
country. And they need our help.
  We didn't pass a terrorism insurance bill.
  We didn't finish work on the Patients' Bill of Rights. It is stuck in 
a conference committee--along with campaign finance reform.
  We didn't increase the minimum wage.
  We didn't pass real election reform to protect the right of every 
American to vote and have that vote counted.
  As we leave for the holidays, I want to say to my colleagues, and to 
the American people: We recognize that these are critically important 
issues. They will not go away. When this Senate returns next year, 
these are among the items that will top our agenda.
  Senator Stabenow spoke earlier today about an idea some of her 
constituents proposed to her. They suggested America create ``living 
memorials'' to the victims of September 11. These ``living memorials'' 
would take the form of community service projects. Through them, the 
love and courage of the people who died on September 11 will continue 
to live on.
  It is a beautiful and fitting way to remember the victims. I 
encourage all of my colleagues to support it.
  But there is perhaps an even more fitting way for us to remember the 
victims of September 11. We must recapture the spirit of bipartisanship 
that allowed us to accomplish so much together in the first weeks and 
months after the attacks.
  The rescue workers did their job.
  The firefighters continue to do their job.
  We must put aside the partisanship and do our job.
  Again, I thank my colleagues for what we were able to do together 
this year. And I wish them, and the American people, a peaceful holiday 
season.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska is recognized.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask that I be allowed to speak for 
about 20 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Corzine). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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