John Sarbanes: “I simply thank the very able Senator from West Virginia for once again calling on the Senate to face these very…”

“I simply thank the very able Senator from West Virginia for once again calling on the Senate to face these very fundamental questions that are involved and which he has been speaking to in the course of the day. I think it behooves all of our colleagues not only to have listened to the able Senator but to go back and read his remarks and to consider them carefully and thoughtfully as we address this major legislation. Now we are embarked, of course, on creating a new Department, but we need to be very careful in how we do it. We need to be very thorough in how we do it. We need to be very thoughtful in how we do it. I commend the chairman of the committee, the able Senator from Connecticut, because I think he has brought all of those qualities to this legislation that he has now brought forth in the Senate. There are very important questions involved here in terms of how the political system works and how the checks and balances work and what the allocation of powers is. Some say this is a fight over turf or over prerogatives. It is no such thing. This is trying to resolve the most basic questions about how our system of self-government is to work and what the balance is to be between the legislative and the executive branches; indeed, the judicial branch is drawn into this, as well.…”