Re:

I am trying to pass a xsl:param into an template how would I get the
parameter value out to use.  I have attached my xsl for reference.

<xsl:template match="BeginEndDate">
<xsl:param name="report_name"></xsl:param>

                    <span class="butBlue" id="taskStartDate"
returnId="startDate{normalize-space(report_name)}"
onclick="tdDateCalendar()"><----Here is where I want to use variable

Try
  returnId="startDate{normalize-space($report_name)}"