Political Quotes

“an important component of this $82 billion Emergency Supplemental Appropriations conference agreement is the $5.7 billion appropriated for the Iraq Security Forces Fund. I commend Senators Stevens and Inouye, the chairman and ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, for their efforts in securing the full budget request for this important effort. Security must be a high priority in Iraq. The sooner the Iraqis develop their own capacity to stabilize and secure their country, the sooner our men and women in uniform can come home to their families. An important part of security in Iraq involves communications systems. The deployment of an Advanced First Responders Network, AFRN, throughout Iraq will begin to address the current lack of mission- critical public-safety communications capabilities. The AFRN system, when deployed throughout Iraq, will allow for focused coordination of security planning and execution, rapid data collection and analysis of changing security threats, rapid coordination and deployment of security assets to address threats, effective planning to reduce/ prevent future security threats, and a more secure environment that will foster democracy and economic development. The AFRN infrastructure in Iraq has been designed to address needs throughout the country, including border regions and pipelines. However, additional funding is needed to meet this objective. Mr.…”