Political Quotes

“Madam President, given the work that has been done, I wish to thank Senators Murray and McCain for their efforts. Senator McCain will not be offering his amendment, just for the information of the Senate. So we will move on now to the Rubio amendment, when Senator Rubio is prepared. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona. Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on an amendment I have introduced--with a dozen cosponsors to require the Secretary of Defense to provide to Congress a detailed report by August 15, 2012, on the impacts on national security of the automatic budget cuts, also known as sequestration. These cuts will be imposed upon the Defense Department 6 months from now unless Congress acts. My amendment makes no changes to the Budget Control Act and should be non-controversial. It simply requires the Secretary of Defense to detail for us the implications of these cuts so that we may consider legislative options. My colleagues are well aware of how budget sequestration became the law of the land, of the failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, and of the enforcement mechanism of automatic cuts. But none of us fully understand the specific consequences of the across-the-board spending reductions should they be triggered on January 2, 2013. We know from statements and testimony from the Secretary of Defense and high-ranking DOD and military officials that the impact of sequestration on the Department of Defense would be disastrous.…”