Cord Byrd: “By requiring Senate confirmation of this new Director of the National Office for Combating Terrorism, Congress will…”

“By requiring Senate confirmation of this new Director of the National Office for Combating Terrorism, Congress will ensure that its concerns over the implementation of homeland security strategy will not be subordinated to the political agenda of the White House. Remember, we are not just talking about a Director of Homeland Security under the Bush administration. We are not just talking about a Director of Homeland Security under a Republican administration. There can very well come a time there will be a Director of Homeland Security under a Democratic administration, and I hope the Senators will see the wisdom in looking forward to a time when the worm will turn, the wheel will turn, and there will be a Democrat in the White House. I am thinking of Senate confirmation as something that will be important under a Democratic administration as well as under a Republican administration, as important to the people of this country under a Democratic President as under a Republican President, under Mr. Bush. For the moment, it is a Republican President. A thousand years is but a day in God's reach. And there will probably be a Department of Homeland Security after my life on this globe has run its span. The war against terrorism may not end soon. It may go on and on. Who knows? The President himself has said it will not be quick, it will not be easy, and it will not be short.”