Political Quotes

“I think it is time to explain amendment No. 3025 that I hope I will be able to call up shortly, knowing full well that our schedule might get difficult when these amendments are brought up at a later point. My amendment would strike section 341 of the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. It included language that would arbitrarily require the Secretary of Defense to cut the civilian and contractor workforce to achieve equal savings as they achieve from planned reductions in the military personnel for fiscal year 2012 through 2017. This provision does not consider the work requirements of the Department nor the law that states: The civilian personnel of the Department of Defense shall be managed each fiscal year solely on the basis of and consistent with (1) the workload required to carry out the functions and activities of the department. What that means is that when we consider the number of civilian personnel needed by the Department of Defense, we look at the mission they need to accomplish and we look at the budget support. That is how those decisions have been made.…”