Cord Byrd: “going back to Mr. Dean's column--as I say, he wrote it back in April of this year--he expressed concerns about…”

“going back to Mr. Dean's column--as I say, he wrote it back in April of this year--he expressed concerns about entrusting responsibilities, such as coordinating homeland security, to a White House aide with no statutory authority. John Dean raised a number of important questions which I will now ask the Senate. I quote John Dean: Would the departments and agencies fall into line when a senior White House aide so directed them? How about it? We are talking about just an aide. He has not been confirmed by the Senate. How about the Secretaries of the Departments who have been confirmed, who come before the Congress, who come before congressional committees and answer questions and give testimony and are witnesses? Would those senior White House aides fall into line when this upstart, who has not been confirmed by anybody, except the President appointed him to this position--he is a White House aide--are those Department heads going to stand and salute when Tom Ridge tells them to fall into line? How about that? What authority does he have? Does he have authority over these people, these men and women who are in Cabinet positions, who have stood before the bar of the Senate and been confirmed to their positions? Would the Cabinet officers follow orders from anyone other than the President himself? Could a senior White House aide resolve long-time department rivalries? How about that?”