Tom Daschle: When you're in the minority, it doesn't matter what you'r...

Bipartisanship isn't an option anymore; it is a requirement. The American people have divided responsibility for leadership right down the middle.

Tom Daschle

requirements responsibility people

[I am] saddened, saddened, that this president [Bush] failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to go to war. Saddened that we have to give up one life because this president couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country.

Tom Daschle

giving-up war country

Diplomacy has been exhausted .. Continued instability in the Balkans threatens important U.S. national interests,.

Tom Daschle

balkans exhausted important

President Bush failed "miserably" at diplomacy, forcing the United States into war.

Tom Daschle

united-states president war

I think we are isolating ourselves, and in so isolating ourselves, I think we're minimizing ourselves, I don't think we are taken as seriously today as we were a few years ago.

Tom Daschle

taken years thinking

While endangering one of the most pristine areas in the world, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would do nothing to make our country more energy independent.

Tom Daschle

wildlife independent country

There may not be much difference between Democrats and Republicans anymore.

Tom Daschle

republican differences may

If I could leave this body with one wish, it would be that we never give up that search for common ground, .. The politics of common ground will not be found on the far right, or on the far left. That is not where most Americans live. We will only find it on the firm middle ground, based on common sense and shared values.

Tom Daschle

common-sense giving-up wish

President Bush has said that the economy is growing, that there are jobs out there. But you know, it's a long commute to China to get those jobs.

Tom Daschle

president jobs long

On issues relating to taxes, you don't always speak with one voice.

Tom Daschle

issues voice speak

We will also never bring up the permanent tax cut the president is advocating.

Tom Daschle

cutting politics president

If journalism is the first draft of history, then the Internet simply has provided a new means for delivering that draft far and wide very quickly.

Tom Daschle

journalism mean firsts

Senators, like everyone else, want to feel a part of this decision-making process. They want to feel included.

Tom Daschle

decision process want

This president failed so miserably in diplomacy that we are now forced to war.

Tom Daschle

president war peace

People were concerned about national security, and that precluded us from having the opportunity to break through on the issues that we cared most about - the economy, education and health care.

Tom Daschle

break-through issues opportunity

As the representatives of the people we are here to declare that our resolve has not been weakened by these horrific and cowardly acts.

Tom Daschle

resolve september-11 people

America has lost an icon. Ronald Reagan's leadership will inspire Americans for generations to come. His patriotism and devotion to our country will never be forgotten.

Tom Daschle

icons country america

Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people.

Tom Daschle

mass-destruction wmd iraq

Literally minutes before the Senate cast its vote, the administration sought to add the words 'in the United States and' after 'appropriate force' in the agreed-upon text. This last-minute change would have given the president broad authority to exercise expansive powers not just overseas-where we all understood he wanted authority to act-but right here in the United States, potentially against American citizens. I could see no justification for Congress to accede to this extraordinary request for additional authority. I refused.

Tom Daschle

united-states president exercise

Trust doesn't come haphazardly. It really has to be built over time. And that trust has to happen really at times when there isn't a crisis. That's why I think having regular meetings and conversation when there's no crisis, when you can build trust and a friendship and a relationship that allows for better dialogue and far more consequential deal-making can occur when a crisis does come up.

Tom Daschle

come-up doe thinking

When you're in the minority, it doesn't matter what you're agenda is, you're not going to have the degree of freedom that you have as a member of the majority.