Chris Dodd: “Any effort to fully fund HAVA is as much of an emergency as the needs presented in the bill before us for Iraq and…”

“Any effort to fully fund HAVA is as much of an emergency as the needs presented in the bill before us for Iraq and Afghanistan and I am prepared to ask the Senate to support full funding of HAVA on the same emergency basis. However, there are sufficient funds in the reconstruction portion of this bill which are of questionable emergency status that can be used to offset the entire cost of fully funding election reform. For example, $450 million from the public safety, national security and justice sector of this bill, including, $400 million in funds to construct 2 maximum security prisons of 4000 beds each at a cost of $50,000 per prison bed; and $50 million for witness protection at a cost of $1 million per Iraqi family. There is $1.02 billion from the electrical sector, including $1 billion for the development and construct of thermal power stations-- which are more expensive than other forms of power generation and will take up to 3 years to construct; and $20 million for embedded consultants, building repairs and a master plan for the Iraqi Electricity Commission. There is $37 million from the public works section, including funds for waste management that would pay for a portion of the proposed 2,000 dump trucks, at a cost of $50,000 per truck.”