Political Quotes

“I thank my friend from Georgia. Madam President, Dr. Perry is the right person to run the Department of Defense. He has the experience and he has the temperament. He has a balanced view of the world. He is thoughtful. Some people have said that he is not charismatic; that you need somebody who is charismatic to run the Pentagon. I disagree. We need somebody who has the experience to change the culture there when it comes to the procurement practices of the Pentagon. We need reform in the way we operate the Pentagon in terms of management and in terms of the way that we buy things. There are billions of dollars to be saved. Dr. Perry said so yesterday. It seems to me that if we are going to do what we must today, which is meet those future threats--and they are real--and if we are going to give the support to our fighting men and women--and we need to do that--we must manage our budget a lot better. And we can do that with Dr. Perry as Secretary of Defense. So I think he does have the vision we need. He surely has the thoughtful approaches that we need. He is totally committed to the security of this country. I am proud to support him by voting for his confirmation this afternoon.”