Political Quotes

“I rise to oppose the Frank amendment and to support the committee reported budget resolution. Our job is to balance our Nation's critical needs with available resources. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I know that we have struggled to find the proper balance in the defense budget--to build a military adequate to meet current and future threats during a time of shrinking defense dollars. As President Clinton said during his State of the Union speech, we must ``draw the line against further defense cuts.'' Though the fiscal atmosphere calls for tough decisions, both the administration and the Budget Committee have managed to retain a strong defense budget and stay within the discretionary spending caps. Taking an additional $2.4 billion out of defense would place our industrial base at risk, and force the Defense Department to make cuts that would leave our military vulnerable. The defense question would change from ``How do we best meet global and regional threats?'' to ``Which threats will go unmet?''”