Political Quotes

“I will continue to state the number of people who believe it is important that we approach this from the standpoint of an amendment that Senator Nelson and I have filed, along with a bipartisan group of legislators. I will begin with Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force Chief of Staff. This is testimony before the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee in 2015. [V]irtually everybody agrees that we would like to, as the United States of America, not be so reliant on a Russian engine going forward into the future. . . . But the question is how to do it and when will we be ready, because we don't want to cut off our nose to spite our face. . . . all of the technical experts with whom I've consulted tell me this is not a one or two or three-year deal. You're looking at maybe six or seven years to develop an engine and another year or two beyond that to be able to integrate. Of course, our amendment would cut it off at 2022 because we believe that is the transition we would need in order to provide the kind of security that the people of this country expect. Let me show some of the national security missions that will be delayed if we don't have the ability to use all of the components of our current rocket set today. The space-based infrared system warning satellites that are designed for ballistic missile detection from anywhere in the world, particularly countries like North Korea, would be delayed.…”