Chris Dodd: “I thank the Chair. I will take another 5 minutes, if I may. The report before us presents an uncomfortable reality that…”

“I thank the Chair. I will take another 5 minutes, if I may. The report before us presents an uncomfortable reality that we have to face as a country. I certainly applaud the hard work that has been done, as I mentioned earlier. Yet as the tragedy in India vividly showed us on Tuesday, n nation, including ours, is invulnerable. We still possess weaknesses in our domestic security and our domestic infrastructure that must be strengthened. For over 3 years now we have possessed, in the form of the Rudman and Hart reports, a clear message from our most qualified experts that we need to do more to prepare ourselves. And while I recognize that this amendment is expensive, this cost will pale in comparison if we are hit and unprepared to respond to it. This cost will be minor. We all agree that $16 billion is a considerable sum. In fact, it represents roughly half the cost of the underlying bill. However, our country continues to spend between $4 billion and $5 billion every month in Iraq and Afghanistan, roughly a billion dollars a week. So we are talking about 16 weeks of investment, if you want to look at it in those terms, in Iraq as to whether or not we ought to be talking about similar investments here at the local level. This is funding that would not be wasted. The Rudman report clearly states the need for more resources. The demands we hear from our States and localities and first responders clearly state the need is there.…”