Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from Arizona as well for allowing this vote to move forward, but in his statements, he said NASA needs to do the same. He repeated it several times. I would just say that this amendment could actually be titled ``NASA Needs to Do the Same'' because what we had agreed to last year, when it comes to defense, is a way forward on the Atlas V rocket, the RD-180. We agreed to that. I believe it was a unanimous consent agreement. If there was an objection at that time, then it should have been expressed when we made this agreement. Our colleagues across the aisle, for a unanimous consent, it takes all of us 100 people to agree to a unanimous consent agreement. That agreement was made on the National Defense Authorization Act. NASA needs to do the same. Our colleague, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, made the point of parity between civil, commercial, and defense. That is what this amendment does. There are a lot of issues that we come to the floor and we talk about this issue not being rocket science: It is not that difficult. It is not rocket science. Well, we actually have an issue that is rocket science. The mission set before American astronauts is jeopardized if this amendment doesn't pass. The taxpayers of this country face billions of dollars in costs if this amendment doesn't pass.…”