Congress should weigh bills carefully, Byrd says

DAILY MAIL WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON - Important legislation should not be the "victim of(a) rush to action" in the wake of terrorist attacks, Sen. RobertByrd cautioned his Senate colleagues.

In a floor speech Monday, Byrd, D-W.Va., said Congress and thepresident should act "with all due haste" in dealing with theeconomic, security and psychological fallout of attacks in New Yorkand at the Pentagon, but lawmakers should be wary of creatingproblems as they rush to respond.

And, he seemed to suggest, Congress should think carefully beforeputting aside all debate and disagreement in an effort to appearunited in this time of crisis.

Byrd voted for and says he continues to support a resolutiongranting President George Bush the ability to use force to respondto the Sept. 11 terrorist aggression.

"But as I delved more deeply into the resolution passed byCongress, I began to have some qualms over how broad a grant ofauthority Congress gave (Bush) in its rush to act quickly," Byrdsaid.

"Because of the speed with which it was passed, there was littlediscussion establishing a foundation for the resolution. Because ofthe paucity of debate, it would be difficult to glean from therecord the specific intent of Congress."

Byrd said Congress did not intend to give the president"unbridled authority" to wage a war against terrorism in general,but rather to attack the terrorist origins of the Sept. 11 assault.

Byrd also expressed concern about a decision to drop a provisionthat would have likely slowed Bush's missile defense program from adefense authorization bill. He said the costly and controversialprogram needs to be debated.

Byrd's speech did not advocate revisiting the use-of-forceresolution but was couched as a reminder of the Senate's role inresponding to the terrorist attacks.

"Let us act as expeditiously as possible on the urgent mattersbefore us, but let us also act with calm, careful and thoroughdeliberation," he said.

Writer Karin Fischer can be reached at (202) 662-8732 or by e-mail at kfischer@dailymail.com.