Mike Levin: “I yield myself 2 minutes more on Mr. Smith. Mr. President, I have no better friend in the Senate, nor have I ever had a…”

“I yield myself 2 minutes more on Mr. Smith. Mr. President, I have no better friend in the Senate, nor have I ever had a better friend in the Senate than John Warner. I know of no finer Senator and no finer gentleman. We have a disagreement on this nomination, and we respect each other's points of view. As he has pointed out, we have been partners, and we are partners. And the use of the word by Mr. Smith, ``partner,'' carries very special meaning. For him to say in writing, in a prepared op-ed piece, that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida have a partner in al-Jazeera and, by extension, most networks in the United States--and he rattles them off: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, and MSNBC--is absolutely indefensible, it is extreme, it is over the top, and it is unbecoming somebody who is going to be representing the Department of Defense with the media. If any one of us had said this on the Senate floor, that FOX News is a partner with the people who attacked us on 9/11, we would think that person not only owed FOX an apology but would probably owe every single victim of 9/11 an apology. I find this such an extreme statement. And the use of the term ``partner'' and his defense of that when we pressed him on it I find to be one of the most extreme, irresponsible, and reckless kinds of statements anyone can make. Again, I will defend Mr. Smith's right to make it; that is not the issue here.…”