Political Quotes

“I came to the floor to talk a little bit about national security and where the Nation's defense apparatus stands as of now. But I thought I also might comment on the comments that were made by two of my wonderful colleagues, Ms. Woolsey of California and Mr. Paul of Texas, who preceded me and commented about their position to the effect that we should bring our troops home immediately from Iraq. And implicit in their comments was the message that somehow Saddam Hussein's continued rule of Iraq would have been preferable to the American intervention. I disagree with that theme, and let me tell you why. In listening to Ms. Woolsey talk about the wounded, the KIA, the suffering in that part of the world, and the burden that has been borne by American soldiers, I think it is also important to remember the Iraq that was represented by Saddam Hussein. And while she has, obviously, the images that have compelled her to take her philosophical position, the image that I have, and I keep in my desk drawer, is the photograph of the hundreds of mothers whose bodies are strewn across the hillside in northern Iraq, holding their children, some of them newborn babies, some of them four, five, 6 years old, dead in mid-stride where they were hit by poison chemical, poison chemical that was delivered into those villages at the order of Saddam Hussein.”