Political Quotes

“I am here on the floor to speak to the amendment we will be voting on as it relates to Senator Reed's amendment. I first thank both of the leaders of this committee for important work that is being done. But the amendment in front of us is absolutely critical for the safety and security of the American people and certainly for our troops. We all agree--we need to agree--that our troops deserve more than budget gimmicks. What we have in here are too many budget gimmicks that do not reflect the commitment we need to have to our troops and their families. Further, it does not allow us to fully fund the security needs of the country. We are going to be having a very important debate after this legislation on what to do around appropriations, and it is critical that Senator Reed's amendment be passed so we have the opportunity to fully fund the full range of security needs of our country--not only in the Department of Defense, which we all know is very important, but our border security, cyber security, counterterrorism, police and firefighter efforts--those on the frontlines. Whom do we think is called when we dial 911, when there is an emergency of any kind. It is police officers and firefighters that, unfortunately, without the Reed amendment, will not receive the kind of support and funding needed to keep our communities safe. We need to stop weapons of mass destruction, focus on airport security.…”