Barbara Boxer: “I thank Senator Reid and my colleagues for giving me this 5 minutes in support of Senator Byrd's motion. We are living…”

“I thank Senator Reid and my colleagues for giving me this 5 minutes in support of Senator Byrd's motion. We are living through a very difficult time in our history. This particular campaign we are in is unlike any other we have faced. There are people in our own country and perhaps in as many as 80 countries who are dedicated to harming our people. As has been noted, we have had more casualties in this campaign on the homefront, in the homeland, than we have actually had in the theater of war. We have a crisis to which we must respond. With his wisdom gained in almost 50 years in the Congress, Senator Byrd is leading us in a direction we should all follow. I am deeply distressed that the other side of the aisle does not seem to want to follow Senator Byrd's leadership. I have been in the Congress for 20 years, Senator Byrd for 49 years. The President of the United States has served in office, all told, 7 years as a Governor and a year as President. Our President has said it is important to be humble. I call on him to be humble and to listen to the words of a man who understands what the role of the Congress should be in this time of terror, Senator Robert Byrd. We are facing threats that we have never faced before. There is not any debate in this body on that. We are facing the threat of smallpox.”