Political Quotes

“My amendment, which I am proud to sponsor with Representative Blumenauer, makes a small, sensible reduction to unnecessary nuclear weapons spending. The National Defense Authorization that we have before us this week authorizes hundreds of millions of dollars for our nuclear weapons program, even $65 million to reduce an additional low-yield warhead. While the threats that we face around the world are different than what they were a few years ago, we cannot afford to sacrifice the fiscal security of our Nation in the name of national security. Spending more than we have and more than we need to on the military makes us less secure, rather than more secure, by mortgaging our future and that of future generations to those foreign nations which hold our debt. My amendment would simply make a small start by reducing the funding for the National Security Administration's weapons account by $198 million, the exact amount that the agency itself says that it doesn't need. Let me be clear: This amendment will maintain all of our nuclear capabilities and research; but for a body that should be making the hard choices to get our budget under control, why should we be giving the National Security Administration more money than they want, need, or are asking for? We need to start getting our budget under control. This is a small step. I offered other amendments that were blocked. This one is allowed.…”