Cord Byrd: “Senator Stevens, Senator Inouye, and I have worked during the afternoon with our staffs to bring to the Senate an…”

“Senator Stevens, Senator Inouye, and I have worked during the afternoon with our staffs to bring to the Senate an amendment which would provide for the carrying out of the purposes that I announced earlier when I presented the amendment which was brought down by the failure of the Senate to waive a point of order. We have drawn up an amendment which stays within the $40 billion which was voted by Congress 3 days after the attack. A point of order was made against the amendment I had offered. I sought to waive the point of order, and it was the Senate's judgment the motion to waive not be adopted. Consequently, what is left before the Senate now is the House bill. So in an effort to move ahead with something for homeland security and in the attempt to at least try to do something on all three of our original purposes--namely, fund adequately defense appropriations, live up to our agreement to New York as much as we can under the circumstances, and to provide a homeland defense bill, which while not going as far as we had earlier hoped, at least does something for the cities and rural areas of this country-- Senator Stevens, Senator Inouye, and I are proposing the following amendment.”