Political Quotes

“Let me just say it was asked which boards and commissions are there which this would cut. There are some 65 boards and commissions. Some are blue ribbon panels. The biggest three are the Defense Policy Board, the Defense Science Board, and the Defense Business Board. But let me say, again, what this amendment does is simply moves forward what the Secretary of Defense has already identified as savings that he would like to achieve. He has said that they want to cut 25 percent of the budget for these boards and commissions. The Secretary put this report out in August of last year, so it seems that he intended this for the FY 2011 cycle. That's what we're in right now. We're simply doing what, in my view, the Secretary of Defense has asked us to do or what he is going to carry through. If we can't do this on Defense or on other wasteful spending, where can we do it? This is a great place to start. We should get this done now because it's going to be tackled later on. Why not get a head start and do it in the FY 2011 budget. If we're trying to realize the savings that we're trying to realize, let's take these boards and commissions that the Secretary of Defense has already said we should cut by 25 percent and give them what he asked for.”