Byron Dorgan

It has become a kind of a Hatfield/McCoy situation, but somebody needs to step in.

We need to make progress. The fact is this river is critically important to the upstream and downstream States.

Could you tell me what it was you were going to tell me, because clearly you had a preferred alternative?

I said, 'Whose orders?' He said, 'General Flowers' orders.'

There is a preferred alternative that is bouncing somewhere between yourself, The White House, and CEQ and others.

I think the budget request is a huge disappointment in a number of areas.

The need to complete this flood control project is urgent, and I am really disappointed to see the President's recommendation.

Well, that is a major disappointment, obviously, to the people of Grand Forks.

The President's budget recommends a cut of nearly $10 million.

The Bureau's budget for water and related resources, for example, is nearly $43 million less than the amount we appropriated in the recent omnibus bill.

We have had some long, spirited and interesting discussions about Missouri River issues.

The comments from my colleagues, Senator Reid and Senator Bond, are right on the mark with respect especially to some of the funding issues.

It is not true that we have at this point a balanced budget. What is true is the budget is seriously out of balance and headed south. It is going to get worse and we need to fix it. Ignoring it is not going to solve the problem. We need to…

We had very significant and increasing surpluses in the Federal budget. As a result of those surpluses, we began to actually eliminate Federal indebtedness, which relieved some of that burden off the shoulders of our children and their…

It is not surprising. I think the value system for most of us has been we ought to try to have fiscal responsibility and balance the budget. I say to the head of the Office of Management and Budget, he ought to start hyperventilating. If…

That is very good. They were off over $400 billion. For 2003 they said we were going to have a $41 billion surplus. Now we are going to have over a $300 billion surplus.

This chart shows the predictions of the Office of Management and Budget. In the year 2002, they predicted we would have a $283 billion surplus.

I want to say--as my colleague, Senator Conrad, said--that it is not our intention to build an outlet from the lake itself in a manner that injures anyone. We don't come to this project saying we would like to have a project for our State…

If I might ask a question, the discussion was quite interesting. I will be very brief. Our colleague said our position is to grow Government. I am wondering if growing Government would be something that occurs as a result of proposals that…

Congress must be vigilant in making sure that all cargo entering this country via any method--sea, air, or rail--faces the same level of scrutiny. Should the perception develop that it is easier to move goods into the U.S. through Canada…

So they go home and say, I lost my job. This economy is not working. This economy is contracting, not expanding. Should we do something about that? Sure, we ought to be working on that. We have homeland security issues. We have…

If I may inquire further, has the Senator from West Virginia or have other Senators heard from the President or the White House by what justification would they insert--again, the White House apparently wanted it; that is what the majority…

They spent $16 million in the recent election. Much of it went through organizations such as Seniors United and others set up to move this money out under the guise of an organization called Seniors United in order to defeat Democratic…

This man put $330,000 into a 401(k) account and invested in Enron stock, a move that he felt would give he and his family security in retirement. He wrote a letter saying that 401(k) account is not worth $330,000 anymore; it is $1,700. It…

Mr. Lay left with somewhere close to $300 million. All the folks at the top were very generous to themselves.