Political Quotes

“In closing, I think both of these amendments are extremely important. I sometimes understand the writing on the wall when it comes to votes on rules, but I would hope that we in this House would consider the amendment that I put forward on the extra day leave in the Iraq Study Group recommendations sooner rather than later. I think it is an important way to move towards actually ending the war. So I oppose the rule and urge Members to vote against the rule. While Members of this body will have differing views regarding the U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, we can all agree that the American soldiers who have been deployed into these combat zones have bravely risked their lives in the service of their Nation. These men and women have done everything we have asked of them, and as we all know, many returning soldiers experience some form of post-traumatic stress. Under the current Pentagon policies, all members of the Armed Forces, including those serving in the Guard and Reserve, receive 2.5 days of leave time per month--regardless of whether they are deployed in Iraq or back in the U.S. at their home base. My amendment would have simply credited soldiers 1 additional day of leave time for every month that they are deployed in a combat zone.”