Sam Gejdenson: “Mr. Chairman, if I have ever seen a bad deal, it is this amendment. It is bad from a number of perspectives. It was not…”

“Mr. Chairman, if I have ever seen a bad deal, it is this amendment. It is bad from a number of perspectives. It was not that long ago that we were in the well here wringing our hands about the dangers of a North Korean missile coming over and hitting part of the United States, and there was no limit to the funding we would spend to stop this threat from North Korea: $60 billion for an untested Star Wars program. Rush the program through. We have spent a third of a billion dollars in the last 9 months. We all saw the last success of that program when the booster apparently did not get to the target where it was predetermined to hit the mark. So we have spent a third of a billion dollars in the last 9 months. There are people here who want to spend $60 billion before they find out whether the system works or not to protect us from North Korean missiles. But let us make sure we do not even give the administration an opportunity to work out an agreement that stops the North Korean missile program.”