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Our enemies should not be those in the other party, but the common threats that face the American community.
Our goal should not be winning the news cycle, but breaking the vicious cycle of political battle and winning a future where all Americans can live out their dreams.
The defeat of the nuclear option shows what is possible when people of good faith -- Republicans and Democrats -- join hands and put principles ahead of partisanship.
This doesn't have to be an isolated incident -- a momentary ceasefire before Washington's trench warfare starts up again. Rather it can be a new beginning. Because on issue after issue, there is a common sense center in America that knows what it believes and can't understand why this Republican Congress won't get the job done.
Just as there was a bipartisan majority that could not stomach the nuclear option, there is a bipartisan consensus for action on many fronts. And all we need for progress is for President Bush and the Republican leadership to let America's agenda get its day.
The American people are demanding it. And Democrats are going to be standing in the common sense center to make sure that we get there.
In this Congress, there is a bipartisan consensus for raising the minimum wage -- but the White House and the Republican leadership stand in the way.
There is a bipartisan consensus for allowing the prescription drugs to be safely reimported -- but the White House and the Republican leadership stand in the way.
And there is a bipartisan consensus for stem cell research that has the potential to help cure diseases such as diabetes and help save American lives. From Nancy Reagan to Orrin Hatch, Republicans have broken ranks to join the common sense center on this important issue.
For four years, President Bush has not vetoed a single piece of legislation. Even when this Republican Congress sent him bill after bill weighed down with pork or special interest subsidies or runaway spending, he chose to keep his veto pen in the drawer.
But now, he is threatening to veto stem cell research. Not because most Americans oppose it. They support it across party lines. President Bush is threatening to veto it because the far right is demanding he do so.
I ask President Bush to step away from the far right and join us in this common sense center, to show he will be part of this new spirit of national consensus by letting stem cell research go forward.
This week's events mark our chance to forge a common sense center that embraces an American agenda for reform. As Democratic Leader, I will be working aggressively to advance the work the American people sent us to do. And I hope that Republicans of good faith will join with us to get this job done: To strengthen our national security. To make America energy independent. To restore economic prosperity and opportunity. To help our families and business afford their health care. To boost Americans' retirement security and protect their Social Security.
In the coming weeks and months, I'll have more to say on all these fronts. But I pledge today, that in everything we do, the lesson of this week -- that we can build on the common sense center -- will remain front and center.
The nuclear option could have been another long, sad stride down an ever more slippery slope toward partisan crossfire and abuse of power.
Instead, its defeat marks the moment we turned around and began to climb the hill toward a common politics of national purpose and a rebuilding of America's promise.
This journey is our cause -- and reaching the top of that hill will mark our real victory.
Thank you.
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