Stephen Miller: “I rise to speak on the homeland security substitute that Senators Gramm, Thompson, and I, and about 40 other Senators…”

“I rise to speak on the homeland security substitute that Senators Gramm, Thompson, and I, and about 40 other Senators, have sponsored that the President says he supports and will sign. There is one fable I learned at my mother's knee, sitting around an open fireplace, that I believe is pertinent to this debate on homeland security that has so divided this Senate along party lines. It goes like this: A certain man had several sons who were always quarreling with one another, and try as he might, he could not get them to live together in harmony. So he was determined to convince them of their folly. Bidding them fetch a bundle of sticks, he invited each in turn to break it across his knee. All tried and all failed. Then he undid the bundle and handed them the sticks one at a time, which they had no difficulty at all in breaking. There, my boys, said he. United you will be more than a match for your enemies, but if you quarrel and separate, your weakness will put you at the mercy of all those who attack you. That is a lesson for today.”