Byron Dorgan: “we are told by some speakers that our intention is to leave American cities vulnerable while at the same time we defend…”

“we are told by some speakers that our intention is to leave American cities vulnerable while at the same time we defend Israel and France and Egypt and others. Total nonsense. There is $371 million in this bill for a ballistic missile defense system. All we want to do is take out the extra $300 million that was added that the Secretary of Defense says he does not want and that we do not need. That is all we are trying to do. I do not need to hear from folks about the threat to this country. North Dakota has been ground zero for 40 years. If we seceded from the Union, we would be the third most powerful country in the world--300 intercontinental ballistic missiles with Mark-12 warheads, a B-52 base, we had a B-1 base. We understand about ground zero. They built an ABM system in North Dakota, in fact, the only site in the free world. Spent billions. Within 30 days after it was declared operational, it was mothballed. Tell that to the taxpayers. We understand about missiles and bombers and national defense, and we understand about ground zero. But we also understand about Government waste. We understand it when people say we cannot afford to send kids to school; we are going to make it harder for parents to send their kids to college; we cannot afford money for the elderly for health care; we simply cannot afford money for nutrition programs; we have to tighten our belts.…”