Political Quotes

“I am very proud to join my cochair of the National Guard Caucus, the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, in support of a very long overdue and very important provision offered by the chairman of our Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the full committee. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this measure to elevate the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to a rank of four-star general and to give that general a seat at the table as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As has already been pointed out, the National Guard has been increasingly called upon to perform overseas deployments and other operational tasks in its role as a national defense component. The National Guard is unique from all other services in that it has a State-oriented mission as well as a national mission. The National Guard maintains a force of over 350,000 soldiers and airmen and women, fully 20 percent of our total fighting force. It is a force greater, almost double that of another military component already represented on the JCS. The current administrative chain of command for the National Guard at the highest levels is confusing, to say the least.”