Joe Lieberman: “I want to thank Senator Cleland and Senator Levin for their leadership in developing and offering this bill, and I am…”

“I want to thank Senator Cleland and Senator Levin for their leadership in developing and offering this bill, and I am pleased to join the other Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee in cosponsoring this initiative aimed at addressing the problem of attracting and retaining the right men and women in the right numbers for our military. The effectiveness of our military, and its readiness to act immediately to protect our national interests, must always be a priority concern of Congress, as the continuing challenges around the world today demonstrate. There are few things that we will do this year that are more important, because the security of our country rests squarely on the shoulders of the men and women that provide our defenses and protect our interests. The outstanding performance of our forces in Desert Fox shows that the American military remains more than equal to the task, and that we have what is unequivocally the number one force in the world. In fact, it may well be the best we have ever fielded. Even at the height of the cold war, with the largest military budgets ever, it is difficult to see those units being able to routinely execute the range of complex operations with the expertise that our units today are doing. Nonetheless, our military faces readiness problems, many of them serious.”