Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise today to speak on the American Jobs Matter Act. This legislation was introduced by myself, Senator Blumenthal, Senator Brown, and Senator Merkley. No one is going to disagree that this country has the greatest, most powerful military in the world. Although the Defense Department has not been spared from the draconian cuts included in the sequester, we still have a robust defense budget. Annual defense spending has grown from $287 billion in 2001 to over $700 billion today. Today it is hovering at around 6 percent of GDP. A significant portion of these Federal defense dollars are used to purchase manufactured goods that make our military the preeminent fighting force in the world. In order to have the best military, you need the best people--we certainly have that--and the best stuff, which we have as well. It is not debatable that our industrial base--going all the way back to the iconic assembly lines that churned out the machinery which was used to defeat fascism during World War II to today's shipyards that are producing our nuclear-powered submarines--is not still the best in the world. But 20, 30, or 50 years from now are we still going to be the best? That is the question before us today and the question this legislation seeks to answer. Over the past 5 years the Department of Defense has cumulatively spent about $700 billion on manufactured goods. Over that same period of time, the United States has lost 1.7 million manufacturing jobs.…”