Political Quotes

“I share the goal of providing the American people with effective protection against the emerging long-range missile threat from rogue states. I support developing an operationally effective, cost-effective limited national missile defense, and making an effort to negotiate with Russia, for a reasonable period of time, any appropriate modifications to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that might be necessary to permit deployment of a limited national missile defense system. That is why, Madam President, I support the Defense Department's National Missile Defense Deployment Readiness Program to develop a limited NMD system to protect the United States against such a developing threat. But that is not what this bill before us does. This bill says we are going to deploy a national missile defense system 'as soon as technologically possible.' No other factors are to be considered. Don't consider if the system is operationally effective. Those are important words to the military, 'operationally effective.' But we are not supposed to consider that under this bill. Don't consider if it is cost-effective. Don't consider whether it ends the elimination of thousands of nuclear weapons in Russia under the START process. Don't consider whether it increases the threat of the proliferation of these terrible weapons to rogue states interested in getting them by any means possible.”