Daniel Inouye: “as I indicated in the earlier debate, we have been assured by the chair of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Levin, and…”

“as I indicated in the earlier debate, we have been assured by the chair of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Levin, and the vice chair, Mr. McCain, that this waiver process is working and has worked. It is not an easy amendment to speak against, but I am reminded of something that happened during my days of youth. After World War II, there was a very distinguished German, who was a Nazi. He was the prime person who helped develop the rockets and bombs that devastated London, who was then in the process of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile to devastate the United States. But we provided him with a waiver. He came to the United States and worked to develop rockets for the United States. If it weren't for this scientist, there is grave doubt that we could have sent a man to the Moon at the time we did or whether we could have developed the ICBM that we have today. His name was Dr. Wernher von Braun. I am against those crimes that my colleague from California cited. They are objectionable, they are horrible, and as the father of a son, I can imagine what I would go through if my son had been a victim of one of these crimes. But this process does work, and I think at this moment to flat-out determine that this process cannot be used in certain crimes may be shortsighted. So on behalf of the ranking member of the committee and myself, I move to table the Boxer amendment.”