Patty Murray: “Mr. President, I am dismayed and outraged that as we stand on the brink of war, as a quarter million of our finest…”

“Mr. President, I am dismayed and outraged that as we stand on the brink of war, as a quarter million of our finest soldiers gather in the Persian Gulf, the Senate is here this week discussing how to criminalize women's health choices. That is outrageous. I cannot believe the Senate leadership can find no more pressing national issue for the Senate to consider right now than abortion. I cannot believe my colleagues are so out of touch with what is going on in America and the world that we should be debating this bill, S. 3. For anyone who hasn't had time to read a newspaper or talk to a constituent in the last week, I will read you some of the headlines. It will help demonstrate what else we are not doing right now. This is from Friday's New York Times. Headline: 'U.S. Payrolls Fall Sharply as Jobless Rate Rises to 5.8 Percent.' Employers shed more jobs last month at any time since the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Labor Department reported today. Saturday's Washington Post is even more alarming. . . . [T]he report showed significant declines in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, construction, retail trade, transportation, and some service. How about this revelation: 'Chronic Budget Deficits Forecast,' says the Washington Post. The Federal Government . . . faces chronic deficits that only dramatic policy shifts can reverse.”