Political Quotes

“the fiscal year 2002 National Defense Authorization Act that was reported out of the Committee on Armed Services was a good bill. In particular, it included important provisions regarding missile defense. It required prior Congressional approval of any activities during the next fiscal year that are barred by the ABM Treaty. This provision assured Congress its proper role in any decision to walk away from a cornerstone of strategic stability which has served the United States well for the past 30 years. It strengthened transparency and Congressional oversight over the Administration's missile defense programs. If the Congress is to authorize billions of dollars for national missile defense, we deserve a clear blueprint for how the administration will spend that money. And it reallocated $1.3 billion from missile defense to other pressing defense priorities. As a result of the managers' amendment adopted last week, the first two provisions were dropped. The third one was altered to permit the President to spend the $1.3 billion on missile defense or on counter-terrorism. As every other Member, I understand the need to forge a unity of purpose in fighting the difficult war which lies ahead. That is why I did not prevent action on the managers' amendment last week. Let the record show, however, that I strongly disagree with the decision to delete those very sensible provisions.”