The conditions on the IMF are still not adequate to me, ... But we had to move the bill.

'I'm not going to do it,' I yelled back at him. 'I'm not going to do it and I'm very disappointed by your call,

[But the effectiveness of the response to Katrina appears to diminish the higher you move up the chain of command. By Sept. 7, Lott concluded that FEMA and its Mississippi arm were overwhelmed and understaffed, and he went straight to circumvention mode.] We're just going around them, ... We talk to people on the ground, and they tell us what they need.

I am not swayed one way or the other on that,

Given the protracted contest to determine the presidential victor, it is critical we move expeditiously and be prepared to confirm the new cabinet on January 20 after the president has been sworn into office,

We have to take a look at what it might take. I'm not sure that that type of a frontal ground assault is what we might be doing. It might eventually take a substantial number of troops,