Political Quotes

“Mr. President, placing holds on hundreds of military promotions over a single policy disagreement is unconscionable. It is harming our national security, and it is going to have cascading effects for years. Not only will military services be left without confirmed leaders, but our senior leaders are going to have to do multiple jobs at once. This will disadvantage the services at every level and leave less experienced members to have to step in to fill their bosses' shoes. As someone who served in the navy for 25 years, I want to paint a picture of what that looks like in the real world. Operations plans-- they will not get updated. Now these are the plans that prepare us for military conflicts, for humanitarian disasters, and any conflict we face around the world. Operations and exercises will suffer because they lack an expert at the head of the table who can weigh strategic risks and who is empowered by Congress to make critical decisions. We won't have confirmed senior leaders at the table in places like Africa, where we are trying to strengthen ties and security cooperation with our partners to counter violent extremists and the rising influence of Russia and China. And speaking of China, we won't have confirmed senior leaders at critical posts in the regions in that region of the world where they are empowered to bolster our capabilities. And let's not forget, these holds are preventing the promotions of military leaders in Alabama.…”