Political Quotes

“I rise today to support S. 1438, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002. This bill provides our armed forces the tools necessary to protect, serve, and defend the United States of America and our allies. Recent events underscore the critical importance of this bill: as the country mourns those lost in last week's terrorist attacks, our armed forces must stand at the ready. This bill has many laudable initiatives, including several efforts from all three of the subcommittees on which I serve: Seapower, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, and Personnel. In the area of Seapower, our subcommittee was faced with the difficult task of balancing the competing priorities of: new construction of ships for our naval fleet; sustaining our current platforms and weapons systems; and investing in the weapons systems and platforms of the future. I am pleased that this bill takes important steps to ensure that our naval forces can continue to command the seas and project power ashore while sustaining a viable industrial base to support our future national security needs.”