Chris Dodd: “My colleague again raises a very good point. Again, I am told by staff that every one of our men and women in military…”

“My colleague again raises a very good point. Again, I am told by staff that every one of our men and women in military uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan have with them devices that allow them to determine immediately if they have been affected by chemical or biological weapons. There is a certain amount of equipment or type of equipment they can have which will allow them to immediately know. And they should have it. The fact is, we have nothing like that available to our first responders at home who may be asked to respond to those situations. The Senator makes the point so well. Again, our discussion of what our military needs to protect our country is not the subject of this debate. The mere point we are trying to raise this issue is that we are spending this amount in these places, and if someone were to come in and say we need more--and they will, no doubt; I guarantee you, as I stand here, there will be a request saying we need more--I suspect there will not be just two or three Senators sitting here arguing about whether or not we are going to get it, and if there are budget points of order against an amendment, they will be defeated when they ask for a waiver. I guarantee you, it will go through here like a hot knife through butter when it comes. The issue is, we are making a similar case for a similar set of challenges.”