Mark Dayton: “My amendment strikes two sections of the bill, sections 842 and 843, which relate to ``Buy America'' and the Berry…”

“My amendment strikes two sections of the bill, sections 842 and 843, which relate to ``Buy America'' and the Berry amendment, which are features that have been in existing law for quite a number of years to strengthen our national defense and our national economy. This bill authorizes $422 billion for national defense programs for fiscal year 2005, a sum that doesn't even include the funding for ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. If you include those additional amounts, our national defense spending for the next fiscal year will be almost $500 billion.”