Thomas Daschle: “As we consider all of the priorities we ought to be concerned about in this bill, there is no priority of greater import…”

“As we consider all of the priorities we ought to be concerned about in this bill, there is no priority of greater import than the homeland defense of this Nation. I have immense respect for the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and I admire the way he works and his dedication to his work and the leadership he provides. I can only surmise this would not be his package, either, had he had the opportunity to do this on his own. He is forced to work with an administration and people in the House that have different priorities. I understand that. We have differences and disagreements with regard to priorities, but there should not be any disagreement under the Constitution as to what the most important priority is. It is to protect and defend this country against enemies, both foreign and domestic. That is what the Constitution says. They leave no doubt, our Founding Fathers, about what our priorities ought to be as we consider budgets, as we consider each year what should be our priorities under fiscal management.”