Cord Byrd: “The Senator from Texas, I am sorry to say, is apparently having some hallucinations. The President requested--if the…”

“The Senator from Texas, I am sorry to say, is apparently having some hallucinations. The President requested--if the Senator will look at the report, the Senator questioned $27,143,519,000. The White House said the very same thing about homeland defense. They did not need the money. They did not want the money. Tom Ridge wrote me a letter--I believe he sent a copy of it to Senator Stevens, or he may have written the same letter to Senator Stevens, I am not sure, but he sent me a letter saying they did not need the money, they did not want the money, they would determine what they needed in due time and tell us what they needed. This Senate added $4 billion for homeland defense last year over the President's request. It is being used; it is making a difference. And after all of the hearings of this committee, before Republicans and Democrats, after all the hearings in which the executive branch participated, this is the outcome. This bill that we have brought to the floor is the result of those hearings. Go back and tell your firefighters, may I say to the Senator from Texas--go back and tell your firefighters, tell your law enforcement people, tell your policemen, tell your health officials, tell those people, tell the people back home they do not need this protection. Tell them; don't tell us. The Senator was not on the committee. I greatly honor the Senator from Texas but he is absolutely wrong. He is dead wrong. He is having dreams. He is having nightmares.”