Haley Stevens: “in a time of war, and we are at war--we are at war against terrorism; that's the leading war we are still involved in…”

“in a time of war, and we are at war--we are at war against terrorism; that's the leading war we are still involved in; we have activities in Haiti; we have them in Afghanistan and they are persisting in Iraq--it is my feeling the request of the Commander in Chief should be met in full, and that's what this amendment does. It meets in full the request of the President, submitted in his budget for the activities of the Department of Defense not directly connected with Iraq and Afghanistan. We are going to see that in a supplemental, I assume, sometime after the first of the year. But as a practical matter, this budget is a very thin budget for a military stretched as thin as it is right now around the world. As the Senator from Virginia says, more than half of our men and women in uniform are outside the United States at this time. It is a matter of just simple justice, as far as I am concerned. The Commander in Chief's request should be honored. I hope the Senate will support this request.”