Political Quotes

“the issue that is paramount in the minds of many Americans is the war in Iraq. It is a consuming issue for us because we know that as we stand in the safety of the Senate Chamber or in our homes across America, at the same moment in time, 144,000 American soldiers are risking their lives. Sadly, some are giving their lives almost on a daily basis. Many are injured and come home to face a different life than they ever imagined. The cost of this war, of course, starts with the human accounting. Over 3,013 American soldiers have died as of today, 23,000 have returned injured, 6,600 seriously injured, with double amputations, blindness, or traumatic brain injury of a serious nature. This morning's Wall Street Journal, in an article by David Rogers, talks about the real cost of this war in dollar terms. Many of us have used the numbers of $380 billion, $400 billion, and some have come to the conclusion that the number is really much higher and that when you account for our obligations to our veterans and rebuilding the military after this war, it will range in the hundreds of billions of dollars more. This will affect our Nation. It will affect the quality of our life. It will affect our spending on basics, whether it is the education of our children, the health of our citizens, building the infrastructure so our economy can expand, or creating higher education opportunities so that the 21st century can be an American century, as the 20th century was.”