Angie Craig: “let me thank Senator Thurmond and Senator Nunn for their cooperation in resolving some concerns in the posse comitatus…”

“let me thank Senator Thurmond and Senator Nunn for their cooperation in resolving some concerns in the posse comitatus amendment and the effort that they took in a most serious and appropriate way to cause the military to be involved in the areas of biological and chemical warfare and weaponry of mass destruction when it might be applied against civilian populations in this country. Many of us expressed some very real concern because of what has been debated here tonight, the very important separation of the military and civilian population which is rooted in our history and that we have cautiously and appropriately guarded throughout our country's existence with few exceptions. And so it was with that background we watched this amendment most closely, and I must say that in the end I can now support it because of some changes that have been made which I think we can all be very comfortable with, and that is to narrow this to not allow arrests, to prohibit those but to allow action where there is the exception for the immediate protection of human life.”