Cord Byrd: “This bill is not the first occasion in which the Senate Appropriations Committee has taken the lead in acting to…”

“This bill is not the first occasion in which the Senate Appropriations Committee has taken the lead in acting to strengthen our homeland security. This committee led the way last year. The Appropriations Committee in the Senate appropriated $4 billion above the President's request last year. Of course, I know we are accused of spending money, but that is the money we are spending for the security of the American people for their homeland, their homes, their schools, their churches, and their children. That is the money we are spending. Last year we exceeded the President's request for homeland security by $4 billion. That was done in a bipartisan fashion. It wasn't done just by Democrats on the committee. But the Republican members of that committee joined all the way. The President threatened last year to veto that bill. Does the Senator remember that? The President said last year he would veto that bill because it contained $4 billion more than he requested last year. This year that bill came to the floor with the solid support of the Republicans and Democrats on that committee. It was unanimously supported.”