Russ Feingold: “I surely agree with the Senator from Arizona. I also wish we were out here working on something else, perhaps one of our…”

“I surely agree with the Senator from Arizona. I also wish we were out here working on something else, perhaps one of our political reform bills. We had started working on our campaign finance reform bill long before 9/11, and we are still working on those issues together. It is certainly tragic for this country that, instead, we are mired in a situation in Iraq that takes us away not only from our national security issues but also our domestic issues that need attention. But I thank my colleague from Arizona. He argues on the merits. He doesn't hide behind the resume of a general or talk about or use some other person as a human shield. He talks about the merits of the issue. He and I have had a chance, thanks to his invitation on two occasions, to visit Iraq and look at what was happening. Frankly, we just come to different conclusions. In fact, we couldn't be more far apart on this issue. Nonetheless, I respect the way he argues and the way we discuss this, and I thank him for it. In a moment, I will turn to one of my colleagues to speak, but I want to briefly respond to a couple of the issues that were brought up by the Senator from Arizona. The Senator from Arizona and I agree absolutely on something: We fear failure in the fight against terrorism. We want to defeat those who attacked us on 9/11. For me, the fight is a global fight, which we have been distracted from due to Iraq.”