Mitch Landrieu: “I also acknowledge the great respect I have for the chairman of the Budget Committee, the Senator from New Mexico, who…”

“I also acknowledge the great respect I have for the chairman of the Budget Committee, the Senator from New Mexico, who has just spoken passionately about an issue he has spent a great deal of time and energy working on for many years. He has called us to task many times to try to deal with an issue that is sometimes technical and difficult to explain but nonetheless an obligation this Nation has to protect our children and our grandchildren. He was speaking so beautifully in the 10 minutes given to him, it could have been allocated to our time, because he made so many of the arguments more eloquently than I can about the fact that this underlying budget does not have enough money or resources to do the things we know we need to do now. He has really helped make the argument of why the Landrieu-Carnahan amendment is so important. Point No. 2, regarding the costs mentioned by our distinguished chairman for nuclear stockpile stewardship, for the health care shortfall, for TRICARE, for housing, I ask this question: Do these requirements cease after the year 2002? Do these expenses not continue to recur? It defies logic that we could provide for this funding for 1 year and then simply turn our backs and walk away.”