Chris Dodd: “I wish to join with her in this call for support of the striking amendment. I am going to try to offer a couple of…”

“I wish to join with her in this call for support of the striking amendment. I am going to try to offer a couple of amendments--I do not know what kind of success I am going to have--to put some provisions back into the homeland security legislation dealing with the professional firefighters, as well as some law enforcement officials. I have letters I will read into the Record shortly from the International Association of Firefighters and from Federal Law Enforcement Officers Associations urging in the strongest words possible that these amendments be included as part of the homeland security bill. The point my colleague from New York has made, the great irony she has pointed out is that we now have provisions in the bill that have nothing to do with homeland security. They are a backdoor effort to undermine legislation being developed in a bipartisan fashion. We had cooperation. We are now being told in this bill that we are going to undo efforts made dealing with children's safety and children's health and exclude the very provisions that are asked for by the first responders to homeland security threats--firefighters and law enforcement.”