Political Quotes

“I read the resolution. It starts out commending the troops, and of course that is the most important thing that we can do. I think we should all be involved in that. It then goes on to commend Secretary Albright and the President of the United States in this operation. Mr. Speaker, I voted for the air war. I voted to support the operation even though it was a retroactive vote that was placed before us. But I am not going to vote to support the President's leadership, and I am not going to vote, make that vote, for partisan reasons. I am going to vote because of the President's leadership and because of his treatment of the military. Now let us review the facts: Today we have shorted our military people $13 billion worth of ammunition. That is all the way from cruise missiles to M16 bullets. That means, if we have to go to war tomorrow because this administration has pulled money out of the cash register that was meant for bullets and used it for peacekeeping operations, we are going to have people die because they run out of bullets. Today we are 13½ percent below the civilian pay rate for our military. That means that we have 10,000 military families on food stamps. That is a direct result of the President's leadership or lack thereof. If my colleagues think the President has paid our men and women in the military adequately, then vote for this resolution. But I am not going to do that.”