Tom Carper: “I think it has been a good debate. The Senator from Illinois offered a thoughtful amendment, raised some questions, and…”

“I think it has been a good debate. The Senator from Illinois offered a thoughtful amendment, raised some questions, and I think the managers of the bill, the Senators from Connecticut and Maine, have defended well the language in the bill. For our colleagues who may be watching this--or if they are at committee hearings, perhaps their staffs are watching--I ask a couple of rhetorical questions as we decide how to vote on Senator Obama's amendment. Should most of the funds for homeland security be allocated on the basis of risk? Sure. Should the lion's share of the funding be allocated on the basis of risk? Certainly, it should. Should all the funding for homeland security be allocated on the basis of risk? No. What Senator Obama is trying to do is thread the needle and get us closer to somewhere between the lion's share and all the funds being allocated on the basis of risk. We have all heard the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So is risk.”