Political Quotes

“I misspoke and understated the nature of the problem and, therefore, the significance of what Senator Campbell was able to accomplish. I think in the way I stated it, I said there were 617 additional inspectors that were at risk. Actually, I think the number is closer to 5,000. Had Senator Campbell and the other leadership of the subcommittee not gotten to the problem to find an additional $312 million, as he pointed out, all 5,000 of those existing inspectors would have been at risk because they were being funded by a source which was not ever going to materialize and, in fact, which has not materialized. So in announcing the chairman's successes, I actually understated the nature of what he was able to accomplish. Senator Hutchison and I, therefore, take nothing away from the chairman of the committee, who has had to scramble very hard to try to help find a solution to this problem of Customs agents at our borders. We have expressed, I think, in the strongest terms that we can, our appreciation for that.”