Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise today in opposition of the legislative waiver for the nominee to become the next Secretary of Defense. Since the inception of our Republic, civilian control of our military by democratically-elected civilians has been fundamental to American Government. This principle was firmly established as General George Washington famously resigned his commission to the Continental Congress in 1783, when he might have easily positioned himself as the leader of the fledgling American Government instead. With this bedrock principle in mind, Congress in 1947 established a limitation on former military generals serving as Secretary of Defense without a sufficient number of yes in civilian life. Today, Active-duty military members must have been retired for at least 7 years before becoming eligible to serve as Defense Secretary. Four years ago, despite great concern for what I saw as an erosion of the principle of civilian control of our military, I voted in support of granting a ``one-time exception'' to the statutory requirement for the confirmation of Gen. James Mattis. Until Congress granted a waiver of this requirement in 2017 for General Mattis, Congress had approved a waiver only once before, in 1950 for General George Marshall. With the nomination of Gen. Lloyd Austin, what I had thought would be a once-in-a-generation waiver in 2017 now appears to be the start of an unwelcome trend.…”