Political Quotes

“Mr. President, while Senator McConnell is still here in the Senate Chamber, I wish to follow up on his comments about the loss of Christopher Stout. My wife and I have a son of our own named Christopher. He is roughly 10 years younger than Christopher Stout at his death. So as soon as Senator McConnell began talking about the loss of his life, it resonated with me as a father. It also resonated with me as a former commander chief in the National Guard for 8 years and as a Navy veteran who served three tours in Southeast Asia in the Vietnam war. Sometimes we don't focus enough on what is being accomplished by our service men and women such as Christopher Stout and their service to our country in Afghanistan and our purpose there. Our role has been to go into a place in which 9/11 attacks were conceived and guided, killing thousands of Americans. Our purpose is, as we draw down on our troops there at the end of this year, to be down to about 9,800 troops, roughly half a year from now, and even fewer in the years to come. But our goal is threefold; that is, when we leave, we leave behind not only a place that is less likely to foment and launch attacks against this country or any other country, but also we leave behind a country that can feed itself, defend itself, and govern itself.…”