Political Quotes

“I am going to divert a little bit from the course. Everyone has spoken at great length of Ron's social commitment to our Nation, but I think very few realize how much he has done for the defense of our Nation, and I do not think he ever got the credit that he deserves for that. For the 2 years that the gentleman was Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, I want the people to what know he has done. I happen to come from shipbuilding country. It is the major employer where I live. Our country was once a great maritime power and, up until 1980, we were building about 100 commercial ships a year. One of the ironies of the Reagan years that most people do not realize is, while the defense structure of our Nation went up incredibly during those years and we were building many warships, we went from building 100 commercial ships a year to none by the time President Reagan left office. The year that Ron Dellums assumed the chairmanship of the House Committee on Armed Services, this great Nation built fewer merchant ships than the Nation of Vietnam. They built one. One of the legacies that Ron will always carry with him is that, working with his committee, he spearheaded the effort and made it possible for the National Shipbuilding Initiative to become law, for our Nation to take the first steps toward becoming a maritime power again.”