Cord Byrd: “Continuing, the Department of Defense has served our country well. But from time to time Congress has needed to make…”

“Continuing, the Department of Defense has served our country well. But from time to time Congress has needed to make changes, such as the Goldwater-Nichols Act, to fix problems that have arisen. We know what the problem is. The Department needs someone to dive in and fix these accounting problems. The GAO has told the Congress what is needed to fix these problems. My amendment does just that. One more year means more money spent. One might ask the rhetorical question, how many more years does Congress need to wait before it acts? I don't slough off the proposal nonchalantly or ``chalantly.'' I would like to think about that. Let me do just that. While the Senator from Nevada, Mr. Ensign, speaks, let me converse with the Senator from Virginia.”