Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator for inviting us to come to the floor this afternoon and have this conversation. It is great to be with our colleague from Hawaii as well. Senator Durbin and I came to the House of Representatives together in 1982. I had been a State treasurer and before that I was a naval flight officer. I was a P-3 aircraft mission commander. I served three tours in Southeast Asia. In 1968, the P-3 four-engine aircrafts were on 12- hour surveillance flights tracking Soviet nuclear submarines all over the world. We flew a lot of missions off the coast of Vietnam and Cambodia, low-level missions tracking infiltration. That is what I did on three tours over there. I came back from overseas after the last tour, 5 years, and moved from California where my station was home ported, where my squad was home ported during the war, and I ended up moving across the country. I found Delaware on the map, drove my Volkswagen across the country, and enrolled in business school. I signed up with the GI Bill. I remember the first check I got was $250. I was thrilled. I used that money to help pay my expenses, and I signed up with a Reserve P-3 aircraft squadron up at the naval air station north of Philly and started flying the same aircraft and a new squadron. I did that for another 18 years and then retired as a Navy captain. As Senator and as a Governor for 8 years and as commander in chief of the Delaware National Guard--they have a special spot in my heart.…”