Political Quotes

“The underlying bill pays Reservists and Guardsmen for weekend drills during this government shutdown, but it does nothing to pay the full-time support force. The vast majority of full-time Guardsmen and Reservists wear a uniform but are considered civil service technicians; thus, they're currently furloughed. I spent nearly 37 years serving this great Nation's military; 32 years of those years were in the National Guard and the Reserve. As a young enlisted airman and later as a junior officer in the Army Guard, I certainly appreciated that paycheck for a weekend of duty. I, like many of the young troops serving today, needed that paycheck, kind of like the civilian employees at Scott Air Force Base need their paychecks or the Forest Service workers in the Shawnee National Forest need their paychecks or the clerks at the Social Security office in Carbondale, Illinois, need their paychecks. The absolute utter cynicism of the underlying bill appalls me. As the only former general serving in Congress, I'm sponsoring this amendment to correct the underlying bill which only makes pawns of dedicated American Reservists and Guardsmen. The only thing that bill does is give the politicians who sponsored it and who vote for it a claim, while wrapping themselves in the flag, to say they're supporting the troops. It's as phony as putting a flag pin on your lapel and claiming that makes you a patriot. The underlying bill is as phony as the bill I voted against Tuesday.…”