As proposed by the president and his allies on Capitol Hill, the bill to authorize military programs for 2003 included a number of controversial provisions. One of these provisions was a missile defense system that Progressives complained was expensive and unworkable, and which they noted required abandoning arms control treaties that had been carefully negotiated over the last several decades. To block this program, Tierney (D-MA) proposed an amendment that would forbid any funding for a space-based missile defense. Though he had support from Progressives for the amendment, Tierney could not muster a majority, and the amendment failed 159-253.