John Cornyn: “we are confronted with a piece of legislation introduced by the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. Feingold…”

“we are confronted with a piece of legislation introduced by the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. Feingold, which calls for setting forth the global strategy of the United States to combat and defeat al-Qaida and its affiliates. The question I guess I would ask is: Where have those who propose a new strategy been? Have they been paying attention to the good news that has been coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan when it comes to our ability and our successes to combat global terrorism and particularly the threat of al-Qaida? I think the legislation that has been proposed is both misguided and unnecessarily duplicative of the efforts which I will describe here, which are ongoing, and would literally cause us to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. On a more basic level, I think this legislation misses the point. Every time I come back to work here in Washington, DC, I almost feel there is a parallel universe operating here in Washington where some have voluntarily suspended their powers of disbelief and ignored the facts that seem to me to be as plain as the nose on your face. But I think in light of the fact that this legislation has been introduced, we need to talk about it and provide the American people with the evidence with which they can make their own decisions about what is happening with regard to the fight against al-Qaida. This bill would require the administration to set forth a strategy for fighting al-Qaida.”