Judd Gregg: “I rise to speak briefly to highlight again the Homeland Security bill, which this body passed and the House passed and…”

“I rise to speak briefly to highlight again the Homeland Security bill, which this body passed and the House passed and the President signed this week. I think it is important when we do something that is substantive and addresses what I see--and I think most people see--as a very significant issue for our Nation, which is controlling our borders, we should talk about it a little bit so the people understand what we did because in the activities that so dominate the daily news--whether it is a hurricane or the issues in relation to a Supreme Court nominee--things that are moving in the right direction tend to get lost. But what is moving in the right direction right now is our attempts as a nation, with the President's leadership and this Congress's aggressiveness, in the area of trying to control our borders. The Homeland Security appropriations bill--and I have the good fortune to chair the Homeland Security Subcommittee and the ranking member is Senator Byrd--I do not think of him as the ranking member; quite honestly, I think of him as the senior member--is a bill that is structured around the theory that we should address threat. It was a unique approach to an appropriations bill because it is a unique issue. Most appropriations bills take on a variety of different questions and the management of the Government and how the Government is functioning. But we decided to do the bill based on a theme, to be quite honest.…”