Political Quotes

“I rise to support my motion to instruct in relation to the NDAA of 2017. In the past few weeks the President and the Secretary of Defense have made additional military commitments across the globe for our men and women in uniform, and we have read about these. These include 560 troops to Iraq to help reinforce the fight against ISIS, a decision to keep 8,400 members of the military in Afghanistan fighting against terrorism, 1,000 troops in Poland and a headquarters to beef up NATO's eastern flank, as well as two carrier strike groups in the South China Sea to protect freedom of the seas. I believe many of us are supportive of these commitments. However, in order to support these pledges, we need to make sure we fully authorize these commitments so our brave men and women in uniform have everything they need to fight and win these battles. When our service men and women train here and deploy abroad, they need to know that the Congress of the United States and the Senate of the United States stand with them. Supporting this motion to instruct lets them know we have their back, as we should. I yield to my colleague from Rhode Island, Senator Reed. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.”