Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to say a few things on the vote we will have at 2:15 p.m. today. The issue that is creating all of the attention is a provision that the committee put in the bill dealing with don't ask, don't tell. The committee did a good job on that issue. What they said is, if the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense, after reviewing the work being done by the Pentagon--which will be completed this December--decide it is in the best interest of the United States military to do away with that policy, that will be the case. There are some who are saying this bill that came out of the committee repeals don't ask, don't tell. That is not the fact. It is not repealed in the bill. It simply says, I repeat, if the Defense Department, with the Secretary of the Defense and the President, certifies it will have no negative effect on the military after studying the Pentagon's work, then they can move forward on that and, in effect, repeal that policy. But it is not in this bill. Anyway, the point is, we are going to have that vote at 2:15 p.m., and I will discuss with the Republican leader later today what we are going to do if there are amendments that are going to be offered on that. I have said some of the things I am interested in doing on that bill. I am not here in any way suggesting that people aren't being accurate in their depiction of this bill.…”