Dale Bumpers: “this is the sixth year that I have stood at this desk and lamented the fact that we have become inured to projects which…”

“this is the sixth year that I have stood at this desk and lamented the fact that we have become inured to projects which have massive cost overruns if it means a few jobs in our State or if it means you can cast a cheap vote and not pay a price for it back home. Now, I have been here for 22 rac{1}{2} years, and I have watched this body time and time again proceed continuously to vote for such things as the space station whereas if it were a secret ballot it would not get 25 votes. The facts and the evidence are absolutely overwhelming against going forward with the space station, and yet because of the issue of jobs back home, it is very seldom that anyone casts a vote against it. Also, there is no political price to pay, even if you do not have jobs back home, hinging on going forward with the space station. There is no political price to be exacted against you for voting for something that people know very little about and have never honed in on. My wife, Betty Bumpers, a woman I admire very much for her courage, started a peace organization in 1981, and I said, "What you have done is just assured your husband's defeat in the next election." She said, "Yes, and you men are going to get my children killed." And so I had to dance around that issue until I ran the next time fully expecting to be confronted by my opponent about my wife's activities in the peace movement.”