Kent Conrad

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. We are trying to go back and forth with respect to speakers and with respect to the opportunity to address amendments, but not formally enter them at this point.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I would be constrained to object at this point because what we are doing is allowing Members to speak on their amendments on both sides but not actually present their amendments at this point. That has been what we have been doing back and forth all day today, as Members have come and spoken on their amendments but not actually sent them to the desk, with the exception of Senator Schumer who had an amendment on homeland security. So I am contrained to object at this point. The Senator is completely able to go ahead and make his presentation. I would have to object at this point.

Mr. CONRAD. We can have that understanding, and then we will come back to Senator Brownback for a time he desires.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I yield another 2 minutes to the Senator from Arkansas off the resolution.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Arkansas.

Mr. CONRAD. I am happy to yield an additional 5 minutes to the Senator from New York.

Mr. CONRAD. Madam President, I yield 20 minutes to the Senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield an additional 10 minutes to the Senator from New York.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield 30 minutes to the Senator from New York.

Mr. CONRAD. The Senator from New York is here. He has an amendment that is relevant to the question, the matter of homeland security. I will yield--how much time does the Senator seek?

Mr. CONRAD. I think if we would look back in the history of this Chamber, when America goes to war, the Senate turns its attention to that fact, that confrontation, and sends a signal of our support for the troops in the field. That is just the most basic, I would say, of values, that that is what we should be talking about. That is what we should be discussing, and the budget we can talk about later. We can talk about it tomorrow or the next day. But today we ought to be talking about what is going on, what is on the minds of the American people. I urge my colleagues--I know the leader indicated we would go to a resolution at some point today. That is fine. I would just hope we would go to morning business so people could have a chance to discuss their feelings about our troops in the field. The Senator has indicated he has large bases in his State. I have large bases in mine. Minot Air Force Base, home to our B-52s, one of just two B-52 bases in the country, Grand Forks Air Force Base, one of the three core tanker bases for the United States, those are the places that are providing the air bridge to Iraq half a world away. We have thousands of troops engaged from North Dakota. We have large components of our National Guard which have been called up as well. I tell you, I just don't feel comfortable, honestly, talking about the budget on this day at this moment.

Mr. CONRAD. Yes.

Mr. CONRAD. No, there is nothing for reconstruction. There is nothing for the conflict. There is nothing for any part of it. Let me say this for the Senator, if I could. We have been told a budget request will come next week for that. That is fine. It just seems to me it ought to be part of the budget. It is an odd circumstance to do a budget but leave a big part of the expenditures out of that budget. But what strikes me even more dramatically, much more dramatically than that, is we are not discussing our troops in the field. We are not discussing the fact we have gone to war. Now, goodness, the budget is important, but it is not the thing that is on the minds of the American people this morning. What is on the minds of the American people this morning is this Chamber sending a signal of support for our forces. They have been ordered to go into harm's way. We have an obligation to send a signal that we back them. Whatever our position is on the wisdom of this course, that is not the point at the moment. The point at the moment ought to be we support our forces in the field. That ought to be the discussion that is going on in this Chamber, not a discussion of pay-go or reconciliation. That is not to say we don't go to the budget quickly and in a timely way. Absolutely. But goodness--

Mr. CONRAD. We know there are. We know there are estimates of $65 to $95 billion.

Mr. CONRAD. Yes.

Mr. CONRAD. There is not a penny. We have been told the reason there is not a penny is that when the budget was done, operations had not commenced. Well, operations have commenced. The President spoke to the Nation last night and made clear that we are at war. I hope cooler heads are going to prevail. We need to think very carefully about what we do as an institution when we have a quarter of a million Americans' lives on the line. What should be the discussion in this Chamber? Should it be the pay- go provisions of the budget? Should it be the reconciliation instructions in the budget resolution? Or should it be the question of war and peace? Should it be the question of supporting our troops in the field? Should it be a question of sending a clear message that our country is united behind our forces, no matter what our positions were on the wisdom of engaging in this conflict? That ought to be the priority we discuss. I must say I think this is an extraordinary moment, that the suggestion is we just have business as usual in the Senate. I find it totally and wholly inappropriate.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield.

Mr. CONRAD. The Senator asked the question. There is no money. As the Senator knows, there is no money in this budget for the conflict. There is no money in this budget for the occupation. There is no money in this budget for the reconstruction. There is no money in this budget for humanitarian assistance. But I think there is a larger question. That is, our troops are now engaged. For us to conduct business as usual here just strikes me as totally and wholly inappropriate. I am the ranking member of the Budget Committee. I have been there my entire time in the Senate. I am in my 17th year. For us not to be discussing our Nation at war has the priorities all wrong. Yes, the budget is important. Yes, we ought to do a budget resolution. But we have lots of time to accomplish that. We can do that next week. We completed most of the debate on the budget already, but, unfortunately, a big chunk is missing. If we want to talk about supporting the troops in the field, we ought to do it tangibly by putting dollars in the budget. There aren't any.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield time to Senator Reid.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, there is no suggestion from this Senator that the budget is not important. I believe it is critically important. Harking back to last year has no relevance to this moment. We are at war, and to spend time in the Senate today on something other than that strikes me as wholly inappropriate. We are not talking about not getting to the budget. Nobody wants a budget resolution, I think, any more than this Senator. I have spent my entire career in the Senate on the Budget Committee. I want a budget resolution. We are at war and here we are talking about pay-go. Virtually every American is rivetted on what is happening to this Nation on the brink of conflict. In fact, we are beyond the brink. It started last night. Our President addressed the Nation at 10:15 last night. I hope there is a reconsideration because this Senator is going to be extraordinarily disappointed in this Chamber if we are conducting business as usual while this Nation is going to war.

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I would like the attention of the majority leader, if I could, before he leaves the floor, to say to him nobody is suggesting we walk away from our responsibility to do the budget. But the fact is, that does not have to be done today or tomorrow. We have plenty of time before the budget deadline is reached. That is not until the middle of April. When we talk about responsibility here, we have no higher responsibility than the defense of this Nation. I tell you, the thing that is on the minds of my constituents, the thing that is on the minds of virtually every American, is not the budget resolution. The thing that is on the minds of the American people today is the fact that we have a quarter of a million troops engaged in a battle that is incredibly consequential to this Nation. I wish to register my strong disagreement with business as usual in the Senate when we are at war.

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I say to the majority leader, I think it is inappropriate to proceed with business as usual when a war has begun. That sends the wrong message to the country. It is not what the Senate should be doing. I am the ranking member of the Budget Committee and I would very much, just as the chairman, like to complete work on the budget resolution quickly. But I have to say that I don't think that is the priority at this moment. At this moment, I think the Senate ought to be talking about events that are unfolding half the world away that have our young men and women at risk and that have us engaged in a military conflict that is enormously consequential to the fight of this Nation. I understand the resolution is not yet ready. So I think for some time this morning we could be on the schedule we agreed to last night. But I think after that time, to just proceed with debating the budget and talking about pay-go and talking about this amendment and that amendment is going to look awfully strange to the American people when our troops are engaged in battle.

Mr. CONRAD

Mr. CONRAD. That will be the appropriate action to take at this point, if the Senator from Maine will make that request.

Mr. CONRAD. I yield 10 minutes to the Senator from West Virginia.

Mr. CONRAD. How much time would the Senator from West Virginia like?