Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the Senate will soon consider the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2025. The NDAA is among the most important bills Congress considers each year. It is a primary way of fulfilling our most solemn obligation: our constitutional duty to provide for the common defense. Congress has come together to pass the NDAA each year for more than six decades--63 years to be precise. Today, we continue our streak of earned success. In our best moments, we worked out the NDAA in an open and aboveboard process. Here I must say that I am frustrated with the majority leader's decision to thwart that regular order this year. He did not bring the bill to the floor, thus denying Americans the opportunity to witness their elected representatives make decisions in the open on critical national security issues. Still, we continued in the spirit of honesty and collegiality. The numbers bear that out. The Armed Services Committee considered nearly 3,000 requests submitted by all Senators. We considered 618 amendments at markup, adopting 327 of those amendments. We then processed over 90 amendments during the informal conference process. These statistics tell the story of the hard work and professionalism that characterized the construction of this bill. We are currently experiencing the most dangerous national security moment since World War II. One need only scroll through the headlines summarizing this year's world events. Congress needed to respond in kind.…”