Political Quotes

“I am compelled to rise today in opposition to the amendment offered by the Senator from Kentucky and to join with the Senator from Rhode Island and the Senator from Arizona and others who have spoken eloquently and effectively on this point. For 23 years of my life, I was not a Senator but was a naval flight officer, and I served as commission commander of Navy aircraft. We saw a lot in the news earlier this year about this. I have been stationed on bases that did not get much support. As the Senator from Rhode Island suggested, it is not an enviable position to be in--either professionally in terms of supporting your mission, your aircraft, or whatever weapons systems with which you operate. And it is not an especially satisfying position to be in for the families of those who are assigned to those bases because you don't get the kind of support for your child care development centers, and you don't get the kind of support for your family-related activities on those bases. Several people rose today to say there are cost savings that flow out of base realignment and closures. Just take the figures that were estimated by the previous two speakers: Savings of $15 billion to $16 billion by 2001, and annual savings going forward of about $6 billion per year. Let's say those figures are not right. Let's say they overstate by half the amount of money that has been saved and will be saved.”