Political Quotes

“this makes the point that the Joint Chiefs were misled. They were basically told that the administration was not going to go forward with certain plans, that there were not changes being contemplated to the ABM Treaty that, in fact, were being contemplated, that there were not limitations being placed upon certain of our systems. And as a result, they could clearly have been lulled into the belief that we did not need the kind of Missile Defense Act we are talking about now. I suggest that if all of the information is known to all of the people concerned, we will be much more serious about going forward with a missile defense plan. Finally with respect to this point, I note that the President himself has recently begun to talk about the need for missile defense. Some say that this is a political reaction to Bob Dole's leadership on the issue. It may be. But I will acknowledge that the President, as well as the rest of us, is interested in defending the American people. Whichever is the case, the President has acknowledged the threat. So we are only arguing about exactly when the threat will materialize. The President's position is that we might be able to wait a little longer and deploy a system a little after 2003 and still get by. He may be right. But my point is, is it worth the risk?”