James M. Talent: “No. I am willing to ask all the agencies to sacrifice travel budgets and expenses in order to fund the national defense.…”

“No. I am willing to ask all the agencies to sacrifice travel budgets and expenses in order to fund the national defense. I say again, this has happened in the past to support other important programs. The Coleman amendment last year, for example, increased CDBG funding by $2 billion with a function 920 offset. I am telling the Senator what he knows. The Senator is an expert on the budget. So we have gone into administrative overhead in the past, where necessary, to support important programs. I cannot think of anything more important than giving the President at least what he has asked for for national defense. This is a question of whether we will fund the national defense in time of war at the President's request, at least. Who has the floor, Mr. President? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator yielded for a question. The Senator from Missouri still has the floor.”