Pete Domenici: “With reference to Senator Boxer's comments on the Defense Department of the United States and America's military, the…”

“With reference to Senator Boxer's comments on the Defense Department of the United States and America's military, the United States is not Iraq; the United States is not Russia; the United States is not the Ukraine; the United States is not Japan, and so on down the list of countries that the distinguished Senator from California listed with reference to our military preparedness. Point 1: During the Nixon years, we changed from an army that we drafted, a military that we drafted, to a volunteer military, a gigantic step for the United States. We have decided since that time that we were going to call for parity to our military. It took us time to get there, but we are getting close to paying them for similar things as if they were out in the private sector.”