Tom Harkin: “I understand that in the intelligence community that they only look at possible threats but they don't make a…”

“I understand that in the intelligence community that they only look at possible threats but they don't make a comparative analysis, nor do they deal with the status of how the United States counters the threats. Again, I am saying we need also to engage those agencies on the front line, not just the Pentagon. But I am talking about the Department of Justice, FBI, and HHS--all of these agencies that handle biological, chemical threats. We need to engage them in this comparative quantitative analysis. Again, I want to make it clear to my friend from Mississippi that I basically was not going to support the bill because I felt that the words ``technologically feasible'' in the bill and saying that we should deploy as soon as technologically possible--that that was kind of putting the cart before the horse. I was also concerned a little bit about what this might mean for further negotiations on arms control, our START II and possibly the START III, and the ABM Treaty. But with the adoption of the Landrieu amendment last night, I think that puts a balance here.”