Mark Dayton: “This week we are debating the Defense Authorization Act for 2005 and will return to it after the Memorial Day recess. I…”

“This week we are debating the Defense Authorization Act for 2005 and will return to it after the Memorial Day recess. I thank the majority leader, Senator Frist, for not trying to rush us through this important legislation, because it is complex, and it is also very costly. This bill authorizes $422 billion of taxpayer money and borrowed funds for our national defense purposes in fiscal year 2005. That does not count the $25 billion supplemental that the President has requested, and it does not count the additional supplemental that we know soon after the November election will also be requested for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq during the rest of that fiscal year, probably another $35 billion to $50 billion.”