Political Quotes

“I thank Senator McCain for his leadership as the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee. No one knows these issues better in the Senate than John McCain. So it is an honor be here with him, and also my colleague Senator Thune, with whom I serve on the Budget Committee. Senator Thune has been very concerned about the impacts of sequestration on our national security. I call sequestration the biggest national security threat you have never heard of. The American people need to know this threat to their national security, to the protection of our country, which is our fundamental responsibility under the Constitution. I fully support the amendment Senator McCain has brought forward on the farm bill that he championed, along with Senator Levin, on the Defense authorization, because we can't afford to keep hiding the details of what will happen to our Department of Defense and our military if sequestration goes forward. To be clear, as Senator Thune has already identified, the Department of Defense is taking significant reductions. In the proposed 2013 budget from the President, the Department will take approximately $487 billion in reductions over the next 9 years. That already means a reduction of approximately 72,000 of our Army and a reduction of 20,000 of our Marine Corps.…”