Political Quotes

“I come down to the Chamber today to talk a little bit and highlight the vast differences in the priorities between the two Chambers in the U.S. Congress today. Several of my colleagues will be down here a little later today to talk about and to encourage the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act--a bill, by the way, that passed the Senate in a very strong bipartisan way, reflective of strong bipartisan input, in a vote of 86 to 8. The House also passed their version of the National Defense Authorization Act on more of a party-line vote. The point being, both Chambers have passed it; the reconciliation of the two bills has begun; the negotiations have begun, but they have been stalled. I think it is a strong reflection of the differences between the two Chambers. First, I will talk a little bit about why it is important that we do this job. First of all, there have been 58 years in a row that the NDAA has passed the House and the Senate and signed into law. Why? Well, because it is the highest priority of the government--of all the bills we do every year, apart from and very close to appropriations, would be authorization of our national defense programs. That is why it has happened 58 years in a row. It is important for a number of reasons.…”