Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak in opposition to the National Defense Authorization Act. As written, this legislation authorizes $778 billion in defense spending just for next year alone. That is more money than we spent on defense during the Korean or Vietnam wars. It is even more money than we spent at the height of the extraordinary Reagan defense buildup in the 1980s. Now Congress is set to pass this bill with virtually no debate and with virtually no discussion about how much money we are spending. Congress keeps the spigot of cash wide open so long as it is for defense. And please note that not one single dollar of this huge defense budget will be offset either with new taxes or with new spending cuts someplace else. Meanwhile, do you know how much money the President's Build Back Better plan will cost, on average, each year if Congress passes it? $175 billion. That is about one-fifth the size of this Defense bill. And unlike this Defense bill, every single dollar of the President's plan will be offset with new revenue or savings. But here is the thing: When we want to invest $175 billion a year on childcare and paid family leave and expanding access to healthcare and fighting the climate crisis, and when we are going to offset every single dollar for those new expenses, everybody suddenly becomes so very concerned about spending.…”