Political Quotes

“we have addressed this matter before. I think all of us are concerned about the time that has been taken up with the National Guard and Reserve being deployed overseas. This, however, is what they signed up for. We are in a war on terrorism. The war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq are very important and critical elements in that war. We believe the Defense Department has to be more concerned about the time the Guard and Reserve are deployed. There is no question it causes strain on the families and causes strain on employment opportunities. I have talked to members of the Reserves who have been stationed from my State. They are concerned about the effect on employment. All of these things, however, are what we need to deal with without taking a hatchet to the effectiveness and the utility of the Guard and the Reserves. It is not hard to assume that if one looks at the provision that no one who has been deployed in the past 6 years could be deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, that would probably have wiped out all of the most experienced and most needed people in the Guard and Reserves. Whatever we do, we do not want to take away from the important missions the Guard and the Reserves play with this blanket prohibition across the board that all of the Guard and Reserve who have gained experience, perhaps serving in Afghanistan, perhaps serving earlier in Iraq, perhaps serving in Bosnia or Kosovo, cannot be sent to Iraq.”