Political Quotes

“in the words of our former President, here we go again. Believe it or not, after spending billions of dollars on a defense system with questionable results, the Republicans are now asking that we immediately build up a new arsenal to fend off who? Darth Vader? The star wars missile defense system made a modicum of sense when we were worried that the Soviet Union would launch missiles against us. But now, with the Soviet Union disintegrated and no other significant long-range ballistic missile threat existing, I cannot fathom why we should direct millions of Federal dollars toward this far-out defense system. Thousands of families in my congressional district desperately need improved schools, housing, job training, and so forth. Over half of the public school buildings in Chicago were built before World War II and 15 percent were built before the turn of the century. And yet there is no funding for our children, our future? Mr. Speaker, I simply cannot accept the whimsy explanations offered by the other side of the aisle for promoting this over-the-top star wars system. Even worse, Mr. Chairman, is that this bill calls for the reestablishment of the budget firewalls between defense and domestic spending. This means that should we one day realize that our priorities are completely distorted, our hands will be tied. Should we one day regret that we are spending billions of dollars to fight off fictional foes that never materialize, we will be hamstrung.”