Political Quotes

“Congratulations, Chairman Smith, on bringing to the floor an excellent bill. I want to also congratulate Mr. Thornberry from Texas, a responsible Member of this Congress, a responsible member of the minority, and a person who has been a strong voice on behalf of national defense. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this year's defense authorization bill. It makes smart, strategic investments in our military to keep America safe and defend our interests overseas, and it reflects core values. We are proud to fund the Department of Defense. I have been in this body for some 38 years. I have supported every Defense bill. Now, when I say that, very frankly, we have had some political fights back and forth and there have been political votes cast where we thought that there were things being done that shouldn't be done. But I have supported a strong national defense. I supported most of Ronald Reagan's build-up which was, by the way, started by Jimmy Carter. I have supported making sure that we had weapons we needed and the personnel we needed. We are proud as Democrats to stand behind our men and women in uniform. As a matter of fact, some of the great victories of democracy have been led by people like Woodrow Wilson in World War I, Franklin Roosevelt in World War II, Harry Truman in Korea, and John Kennedy confronting communism and authoritarianism, the people who want to rule by armed might.…”