Cord Byrd: “Mr. President, I have listened to my distinguished friend, and he is my friend, but remember that my friend from Alaska…”

“Mr. President, I have listened to my distinguished friend, and he is my friend, but remember that my friend from Alaska said in December a year ago: Now, 4 months have already passed. We have 8 months. Let's wait until 2003. We have already gone through 4 months. Let's wait until 2003. Now we are hearing the same argument, may I say, from my dear friend: Let's wait until 2004. We cannot wait. The distinguished chairman refers to the fact that the President will not like this either. Well, I accord this President the same respect I accord any other President. This President is not infallible, nor is any other President we have ever had. The problem with what I see in this administration is they want to have it their way with every comma, semicolon, colon, and hyphen. They do not want the Congress to come forward with anything. They are against anything we propose. They have been against everything we have proposed thus far. Let's take their own argument and turn it on its head. Congress has approved $365 billion for Defense. That is a lot of money. We have never squeezed a penny. We have never denied Defense anything. We do not deny the Defense Department anything they want. When they come up and want more money, we give them more money, almost without questions asked. On top of the $365 billion for Defense that we have provided, this bill adds $3.9 billion. That is $3.90 for every minute since Jesus Christ was born.”