Kent Conrad: “I looked at the increases because, frankly, there were parts of that bill that I did not support. I voted against a…”

“I looked at the increases because, frankly, there were parts of that bill that I did not support. I voted against a number of the provisions in that bill. If one is fair and objective about what was offered, where did the increases occur? According to the Congressional Budget Office, the difference between the Senate-passed bill and the House-passed bill is $1.4 billion, not the $10 billion that is being discussed on the other side; $1.4 billion of differences between the House bill and the Senate bill when scored consistently by the Congressional Budget Office. Where were the differences? First responders, $600 million more in the Senate bill; nuclear facilities, $300 million more to protect our nuclear facilities; port security, $700 million more. If anybody has been reading the newspapers, they know there is a tremendous vulnerability of the United States to a so-called 'dirty' bomb that would make this Capital uninhabitable for 400 years. I do not think it is unreasonable to say we are going to protect the nuclear facilities where that fissile material might come from, that we are going to protect the ports of America where those threats could come in to America. Another $250 million was added for airport security to protect against these materials coming into the airports of the country in the holds of planes. I say to my colleagues, that is spending that was designed to protect America.”