Political Quotes

“I rise today to discuss the legislation before us, the National Defense Authorization Act, and to highlight some of the many provisions in this legislation that are critical as we think about our national security and the future of our military. I chair the Readiness and Management Subcommittee, and I understand that one of the chief challenges which faces our military is readiness. The effects of nearly 10 years of warfare on our equipment and personnel, coupled with the sharp budget reductions under sequestration, have made it more difficult for our Nation's military leaders to prepare our forces for combat. During our markup of the Readiness and Management Subcommittee sections of this bill, I was pleased to work with my colleague from New Hampshire, the ranking member of the Readiness and Management Subcommittee Senator Ayotte to move more than $1.5 billion from low- priority military construction projects into critical operations and maintenance accounts for each of our military services. This move will help mitigate the worst effects of sequestration on readiness. It is obviously not going to address the whole problem. We have a lot more work to do. Our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line for us, and we need to keep the commitment we have made that they should have the best possible training and best available equipment before we send them into combat.…”