Edward Dodd: “My colleague is correct. It is very difficult to oversee that. But I presume what will happen is there will be a…”

“My colleague is correct. It is very difficult to oversee that. But I presume what will happen is there will be a headline story in the Dallas Morning News, or the Hartford Courant or the Boston Globe or the Washington Post that XYZ corporation got caught funding on the side, contributing to the program, and we end up destroying the whole thing. Now, there is a gimmick that appeared to be some budgetary device here, which is really more of an invitation for chaos. So I urge my colleagues, those who believe this is worthwhile--look, if you think NED is a bad idea, if you think it is a stupid idea, you never agreed with it, then vote for the Brown amendment. You should. But if you think NED has merit, if you think it has done some things that are worthwhile, if you think it makes some sense for our two major parties in this country to be supporting democratic efforts in these nations, then this amendment ought to be flatly rejected. It is not good government. From the budgetary standpoint, it is an invitation, in my view, to a lot more problems than any of us would like to see. So I join my colleague from Massachusetts and others on both sides of the aisle and respectfully urge this amendment be tabled or outright defeated and allow NED, now with a message sent by the last amendment, to go about its business and to support these worthwhile efforts around the globe.”