Cord Byrd: “Mr. President, I commend the distinguished senior Senator from Connecticut for his amendment, and for his very thorough…”

“Mr. President, I commend the distinguished senior Senator from Connecticut for his amendment, and for his very thorough explanation of it. There is, as he has said, no higher duty than this body has than to safeguard the security and liberties of the American people. This is the height of pernicious legislative mischief to provide the ready and robust forces when the Nation faces a serious threat to our national security. Can we define the specific nature of such threats that might face us? Of course not. Do we need the flexibility to react in time, in advance, and with sufficient credibility so as to show down all such conceivable threats to our security? Of course, we should. The Constitution should not be used as a straitjacket which has the effect of throwing into doubt our ability to perform this most basic of our duties. Thus, the Dodd amendment is a very useful one, as essential improvement to the constitutional proposal which is before the body.”