John Conyers understands that the best defense is a good offense. To bad Daschle never learned that lesson:

Plan by Conyers aids working poor Federal money to boost training, housing in jointly sponsored bill The most comprehensive bill ever to address U.S. homelessness will be introduced in the 108th Congress in February. Democratic representatives John Conyers Jr. of Michigan and Julia Carson of Indiana have collaborated on legislation they idealistically dub the "Bringing America Home Act." The bill proposes funneling federal funds to local governments to assist in affordable housing for the working homeless, job apprenticeship programs, child care vouchers, public transportation, emergency funds for working families on the brink of eviction and one-stop homeless centers to streamline the social service bureaucracy. "You can provide soup kitchens and homeless shelters, but the hardest thing to do is find affordable housing and permanent jobs," said Conyers' aide Joel Segal, a 1989 law school graduate who was once homeless for four months. ... The bill, however, will face a tough sell in a Republican-controlled Congress that must figure out how to finance the war on terrorism and a possible war with Iraq even as some Republicans push for more tax cuts.

It doesn't really matter if the bill doesn't have much chance of passing. The point is to put the GOP on the spot and force them to vote on the issue. You see, it is only through the voting record that you can really start to hurt the bastards (see how it was used effectively against Lott). Democrats seem to think that they can't win the fight so they shouldn't even bother trying. But, if the never bother to try, then how are they to convince others when they say that Republicans aren't willing to help them? You've got to force them to state their beliefs in black and white terms and you don't get much more black and white then their voting record.