Judd Gregg: “I just want to note that the exchange, which was very informative, between the Senator from Arizona and the Senator from…”

“I just want to note that the exchange, which was very informative, between the Senator from Arizona and the Senator from Oklahoma was in relationship to the Defense bill, and we are on the deficit reduction bill. Those items which the Senator from Arizona raised--he certainly has a legitimate right to raise them--are not applicable to this bill but applicable to the Defense appropriations conference report. This bill actually reduces the deficit by $40 billion, which is a very positive event. Mr. McCAIN. If I may continue, Mr. President, America is at war. We all know that, and that is why the measure we are debating today, the conference report to H.R. 2863, the 2006 Defense appropriations bill, is so very important. This conference report provides critical financing for our fighting men and women, the brave individuals we sent to fight in our name. We must support them, and, for that reason, I will vote in favor of its passage. But I do so under protest. The conference report appropriates nearly $408 billion, plus an additional $50 billion in emergency funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The non-emergency portion is approximately $4.5 billion under the administration's request, but is several billions higher than the Senate bill. As is the case with so many of the appropriations bills that come to the floor, this conference report and the joint explanatory statement contain earmarks and pork projects that were neither requested nor authorized.…”