Frank Lautenberg: “I rise to talk about the amendment offered by my friend and colleague from New Jersey, Senator Menendez. As has been his…”

“I rise to talk about the amendment offered by my friend and colleague from New Jersey, Senator Menendez. As has been his tradition, as has been his experience, he brings forth an issue that I think is of special importance at this moment because while we discussed in these last few days the honesty with which we get information and data, we have recognized that there is often an attempt to obscure the truth from the American people about the war we are in at the moment. We see it in different ways. We see it in the fact that, for instance, flag-draped coffins are not permitted to be photographed when the remains of our most courageous people fighting the battle in Iraq are returned home. They come to a base in the State of Delaware, and it is prohibited to take pictures of those flag-draped coffins. That testimonial the country gives to these fallen soldiers is denied public view, as is the fact that there is another American, or more, lost in this quest to bring democracy to a country in which there is considerable doubt about whether they want our form of democracy. This amendment would make certain that no Department of Defense funds are used for propaganda. Last week, we learned that the Defense Department wants to pay a company $20 million to monitor and analyze American and Middle East media to help improve the image of the U.S. Government and the military. I fully agree with him on the importance of limiting these funds for a propaganda campaign.…”