Political Quotes

“This is a very clear-cut issue. Members have said American troops are not there to defend other countries, they are there to defend us, but the fact is that they are doing both. No one thinks that we have no role in defending other countries. The question is not whether we should pay. We will. Even under this amendment the American taxpayers pay the great bulk of this. What we are talking about is whether or not these other nations should get a free ride. We will spend most of the money. People have said, gee, if we do not put out all the extra money, we will lose out on all our allies. How come we have to constantly bribe them to let us defend them? The way people argue, you would think America was the baby that was so ugly one had to put a lamb chop around its neck so the dog would play with it. Apparently, the notion is that we would be so bereft of helping people, that if we did not bribe people by picking up their defense budgets they would not do it. We are performing a task in the common defense. It is not just for us, it is for them. What is not common is the burden. We are picking up all the tab and they are getting all the benefit for free. What we need to do is to share the burden, and that is what this calls for.”