Byron Dorgan: “Let me just make this point because I think it is important. I, too, want to be accurate. I want to be accurate on my…”

“Let me just make this point because I think it is important. I, too, want to be accurate. I want to be accurate on my side and your side. My amendment prohibits the use of funds for the earth penetrator weapon to be ``obligated or expended for development, testing, or engineering on a nuclear earth penetrator weapon.'' That is perpetual. And ``(b) Prohibition on Use of Fiscal Year 2004 Funds'' deals only with this fiscal year. So to be perfectly accurate, the question of the withholding of funds with respect to the feasibility study only applies to this fiscal year. It is not permanently banning that funding because I can only ban it for this year. So I just want to make that point. I am happy to yield and happy to engage in this colloquy, but I think the issue is quite simple actually: Either one believes we ought to have new nuclear weapons, earth penetrating bunker busters--and I don't remember exactly who showed up to testify yesterday; someone from the Joint Chiefs, I guess, and they have told us that somewhere around the world, somebody is auguring deep into the earth, God forbid, and we might well need a nuclear weapon to go get them. I would say to people who come around here with those stories: Go get some fresh air. Put some sugar on your cereal. I don't, for the life of me--there are people around here, I swear to you, who, if told our adversaries were creating a cavalry, would be on the floor trying to buy horses.”