Political Quotes

“No, I will not yield. I will finish, and the Senator can respond to this later. Hopefully my colleague from Hawaii hasn't been one of those who have been filibustering spending for our troops, but it has happened. In the summer of 2015, it happened five times in a row. Next--right now we are having these discussions on the appropriate level of defense spending, but the other side is saying: No, there has to be parity, with ``parity'' meaning that if we increase defense spending, which people are now saying we need to do--and we do--we have to correspondingly increase domestic spending. Well, again, the vast majority of Americans don't agree with that position. That is not a position that is showing strong support for our military, yet that is the position right now. That is one of the reasons we have had difficulty coming to a final topline number. In other words, if you want to increase the budget for the Marines, you need to increase the budget for the EPA or another domestic agency. Well, that is not showing this newfound emphasis and importance with regard to the military. Let me provide just one last point. This government shutdown--we all know that really hurts our troops. We all know that really hurts training. We all know that really hurts planning. Right now, if you are a lance corporal in the Marine Corps fighting in Iraq or somewhere else around the world for our national security, you have just been told that you are not getting paid.…”