Political Quotes

“I hope my friend, the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Kennedy], will listen, because the Department of Defense budget is the only budget out of the entire U.S. budget that has been cut in real terms by over 10 percent in the past 5 years. When I first got to Congress, it was $300 billion a year. This year it is about $275 billion. There are hundreds of thousands of young men and women who want to serve their country who have been involuntarily discharged or not had their contracts renewed because of downsizing. The point of the matter is the Department of Defense is smaller, and they are doing a better job with what they have. I want to compliment the chairman and ranking member for doing the best job that we could with the funds that we have. I want to encourage my colleagues to vote for this bill. It is our job to decide where that money should be spent, and without this bill, the President will make that decision, not us.”