Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to give my overall support for the content of the Defense authorization bill, but my considerable concern and, therefore, my ``no'' vote on final passage in the Committee on Armed Services was because the bill, as crafted by the majority in the committee, is a travesty, using an artificial budget to authorize the necessary operations and troop readiness of our military establishment. Now, that is what the bill does. It is an artificial budget. That may not sound particularly offensive, particularly when as a policy bill there are many good things in this Defense bill; things such as providing for the increase of our military services; things such as certain weapons systems that are authorized. Historically, this bill has been recognized as being bipartisan, and it addresses the problems posed by an increasingly dangerous world. The Defense authorization bill has historically provided the military with the resources our Nation needs. But the ranking Democrat, the Senator from Rhode Island, and I are compelled to oppose this bill because it addresses these problems with an artificial budget that treats an essential part of our military, which is preparedness--the necessary operations training and maintenance, preparedness of our military--in an unplanned way.…”