Mike Levin: “While Senators Dodd and Warner are on the floor, let me first thank Senator Dodd for the passion he brought to this…”

“While Senators Dodd and Warner are on the floor, let me first thank Senator Dodd for the passion he brought to this issue. This sounds like a process issue. It is not a process issue. These are life- and-death issues we are debating. These are war issues and how do we support our troops and their families issues. These are issues of whether there will be benefits for families who have lost loved ones in war. These are issues of whether bases will be closed, issues of nuclear weapons, and issues of whether we are going to go down the road of new nuclear weapons use at the same time we are trying to persuade the world not to go down that road. These are the most vital issues we can possibly face as a people. I commend the chairman. He is, in good faith, going to attempt to see if we cannot find a way we can have a reasonable few days of debate before this debate is closed off, so we can consider the important amendments that have been filed. The chairman is very much aware of the tradition of this committee because he has been part of it and supportive of it for so long. The tradition the Senator from Connecticut talks about is tradition which is plenty deep, but it is also law. I think we are the only committee which, by law, must pass an authorization bill. So that tradition is embodied in the law itself. There is one little statistic, and this is something the Senator from Connecticut feels in his bones is true.…”