Daniel Inouye: “I commend and congratulate my colleague from Mississippi for his leadership in this area. Most respectfully and…”

“I commend and congratulate my colleague from Mississippi for his leadership in this area. Most respectfully and candidly, I must say that I have been a bit surprised and saddened by the attacks made upon this measure. This bill, in my mind, is a wake-up call. It is telling all of us that there is a threat. Anyone who studies North Korea, anyone who looks at the Soviet Union, anyone who has taken time to study the situation in Iraq and Iran, would have to conclude that there is a threat. This measure does not deploy any ballistic missile defense system. It just tells us it is about time we begin looking to the possibility of deploying a system. As the author of this measure has pointed out very clearly, we would have to go through the regular process of authorization. This Senate and this Congress will have an opportunity to have a full-scale debate, to debate whether we have the funds, whether the threat is real, whether there is a necessity for this system. Then it will have to go through the appropriations process. At each level, the President of the United States will have an opportunity of either concurring or vetoing our efforts. We are not in any way short-circuiting the process that has been laid down by our Founding Fathers. We are following the process. But we are, in essence, telling our Nation: Wake up. There is a threat, and it is about time we look at it seriously. I am proud to be a cosponsor, not only of the amendment but of the bill itself.”