Well, I don't know, Senator. I am just trying to say that the Senate is looking at this in terms of its fiscal impact. This is somewhere between $200 and $300 billion.

The other is interesting. No. 1, we do not waive the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 631, which sets aside 23 percent of the dollar volume of all defense contracts must go to small business. The Javits-Wagner, No. 2, is all products…

it is interesting, over the weekend I had the opportunity, I say to my distinguished colleague, to visit the Department of Defense, and I was greatly impressed with an individual, who was a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives a…

I say to the Senator, I concede your point. You need not deliberate further. Fault lies on both sides, both branches of Government. All I am saying is--and I am informed by those who have greater knowledge about the procedures of the Red…

Here is where I respectfully differ. If the information we give to the Red Cross were to leak out, then other nations that are similarly following that practice will see this is now in the public domain and say: We are stopping, Red Cross…

I would have to defer until I go to the heart of the experts. All I know is that the name--if we are detaining certain individuals and the enemy does not know whom we have captured, and they, therefore, have to shelve some of their plans…

I do not disagree in how you frame the issue, but I maintain my stance. Let me parse it very carefully. I say to the Senator, you are saying that what we give the Red Cross--not what the Red Cross comes back and tells us we are doing right…

let me first say I think our colleague has brought to the attention of the Senate through his amendment a very important subject. It is my hope and expectation that we can eventually have a meeting of the minds. I don't take great joy in…

I, too, am concerned, as is every Member of this body, about the daily, weekly loss of life and limb by our brave men and women in the Armed Forces. As the Senator says, this is their bill. That is what it is. It is their bill, whether…

we are where we are. In the mortal words of someone smarter than I, we have to deal with the cards which have been dealt. I have a suggestion. We are trying to work out how we could protect the parliamentary situation as it now exists with…

I hope we can perhaps reach the Byrd amendment today. It is an important amendment. I have shared many debates with my good and valued friend from West Virginia, and we are prepared. I cannot join him in support, but we will have a good…

I did not mean in any sense to be negative about his approach. Frankly, it is a bipartisan issue, in my judgment. There will be Senators on both sides who will perhaps look at this amendment, which I believe is an important one in terms of…

if I could reply, first, I think the distinguished Senator from Nevada has been extremely helpful and is continuing to be that way. Let me point out that we are prepared to take up each and every one of those amendments that he just…

may I add, in the many years I have worked with the distinguished leader from Nevada, this is an issue which he has singlehandedly, in so many instances, taken the role to care for veterans, particularly those who carry the wounds of war…

there are rare moments in the life of the Senate. I have enjoyed our colloquy. The Senator has raised one of the most important issues that will be considered on this bill. Despite all the billions and billions of dollars, some $420…

The principal focus and purpose of the policy is to protect the wishes and the privacy of families of deceased members of the Armed Forces during their time of great loss and grief and to give families and friends of the dead the privilege…

if my dear friend will indulge me my own recollection, when that tragic incident happened in Beirut, Senator Tower was the leader of the Republican side of our committee, and I was sort of one of the junior members. I remember he came into…

the concern I personally have had--and I think shared by some of our colleagues--is almost less from a fiscal standpoint and more from the fact that when you put a unit together and you bring into that, say, Regular Army unit a guardsman…

I interpret it quite differently. The amendment would prohibit deployment of the ground-based midcourse missile defense system until the Secretary certifies to Congress that the capabilities of the system to perform its national missile…

Fine. We definitely want to care for those. Those families who are not serving overseas yet have been pulled up abruptly from Reserve or Guard status, yet where the husband or the wife-- whichever the case the uniform may be worn--is not…

I thank our colleague. I asked the question so as to make it a part of the record of the proceedings today. So often when Congress acts on an amendment such as this, which is so important to so many families, they suddenly hear from…

You make reference to those families overseas repeatedly. I just want to make sure about some of those at home.

I thought it necessary to second degree the amendment which would authorize the Department of Defense to pay the cost of the additional Active-Duty soldiers for fiscal year 2005 from supplemental or contingent emergency reserve funds…

I think he will perhaps reflect on the need to go forward with his second missile defense amendment, and he had asked for that need to be reconsidered. Therefore, in its place we can put the end strength amendment, which would be a matter…

my amendment does everything that my colleague stated as a desired goal. His amendment goes a step further. This is the reason we have two votes. He establishes a new criterion for a crime that could result in incarceration up to 20 years…