Chuck Schumer: “Let us hope and pray that is the Chair's most difficult situation in the upcoming months. I thank the Senator from…”

“Let us hope and pray that is the Chair's most difficult situation in the upcoming months. I thank the Senator from Tennessee for allowing me to speak. I will try to be brief. I would like to talk about two related subjects in this bill: What is in the bill and what is not in the bill. What is in the bill, aside from the original homeland security provisions which we have been debating for a very long time, are little pieces of legislation unrelated to homeland security, none of which could stand the scrutiny of individual debate. In other words, if any of these little provisions were put in separate legislation and brought to the floor of the Senate, my guess is they would be overwhelmingly defeated. For those to be in homeland security right now, for those pieces of pork, for those rifleshot pieces of legislation that benefit one company to be in this bill, particularly after the President made such a fuss about keeping this bill the way he wanted it without any other provisions in it, is very wrong. I hope we will support the Lieberman amendment. There are a few that are particularly galling to me. Probably the worst is a provision in this bill that was in the original bill that the House just took out that said, if you go overseas to avoid paying taxes, the original provision said, you can't bid on homeland security contracts. This takes it out. It says to companies that move overseas that they can benefit from the homeland security issues. I find that very troubling.”