John Kerry: “I want to begin by saying everyone in this Senate is respectful of how hard the Senator from Arizona has worked to bring…”

“I want to begin by saying everyone in this Senate is respectful of how hard the Senator from Arizona has worked to bring attention, appropriate attention, to the effort to keep up our nuclear deterrent. He has pushed to correct what this administration saw as too many years of neglect for the work of the nuclear weapons complex. I am glad to say this administration has not only heard him, but many other Members of the Senate, from both sides of the aisle, have joined in this effort to call attention to the modernization needs of our nuclear deterrent. The administration has appropriately pushed hard for an unprecedented level of funding for this work. In these difficult budgetary times, I do not think anybody here would argue that moving a 10-year budget from $70 billion to over $85 billion, which they have done, what President Obama has done, shows an extraordinary commitment to this enterprise by this administration.”