Political Quotes

“Mr. President, there is a reason we have passed the National Defense Authorization Act every year for the past 57 years, and that is because it is vital for the men and women who take responsibility for defending our country. Passing the Defense authorization bill is one of the most important things we do in this Chamber, and I look forward to passing the bill that we have before us out of the Senate and getting it through conference and signed into law very soon. I want to start by briefly thanking the bill managers for including a number of my amendments, but one I will mention that they have added to the managers' package is an amendment that requires the Air Force and the National Nuclear Security Administration to submit a joint progress report every 6 months on their efforts to develop a new nuclear cruise missile capability. This will help ensure that their efforts are synchronized and that we stay on schedule. The nuclear cruise missile is an important part of our deterrent, and I am grateful for the committee's willingness to work with me on this amendment and include it in the managers' package. This year's legislation certainly contains its share of noteworthy provisions. I will not be able to mention them all, but I do want to talk about some of them here today. For example, it authorizes a 2.6- percent pay raise for members of the armed services, which is the highest pay raise we have been able to include in more than a decade.…”