Mitch Landrieu: “the underlying bill that Chairman Byrd and Ranking Member Cochran have put together is really good work. As a member of…”

“the underlying bill that Chairman Byrd and Ranking Member Cochran have put together is really good work. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am pleased to have worked on this bill. Senator Murray has provided some extraordinary leadership to add to this appropriations bill some resources to match the words that come out of this Capitol about securing our ports, securing our rail, and stepping up additional resources for our airports. This underlying bill, the Homeland Security appropriations bill, reflects this goal and objective. For the most part, it meets it in a substantial way. But I would like to remind all of us here, my colleagues, though it is hard to remember or to put in perspective, but a few years ago, just over 5, we didn't have a Homeland Security appropriations bill. Until Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida established a network and put 19-plus men on planes that took out buildings in New York, a section of the Pentagon here in Washington, and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, this department didn't even exist. This department has been put together to try to help this country stand up against a great and growing threat--a great and growing threat. Unfortunately, according to the latest intelligence report--and I have the unclassified summary--this is not a diminishing threat.…”