Political Quotes

“later today, the Senate will take the first procedural step to begin consideration of our annual Defense bill. For more than six decades, Democrats and Republicans have worked in good faith to pass the NDAA. This year's Defense authorization bill is a prime example of how Senate D's and R's can work constructively to provide our Nation's defense, take care of our servicemembers and DOD civilians, and make the investments necessary to innovate and build up our military intelligence capabilities. I hope we can have an open and constructive amendment process for the NDAA, without needless delay or dilatory tactics. I certainly hope we do not see the kind of controversy that severely hindered the NDAA process over in the House. Both sides should defeat potentially toxic amendments and refrain from delaying the NDAA's passage. So far, we have thankfully avoided all of that. Over the weekend, nearly all the committees across the Senate worked around the clock on a substitute, with a managers' package that has 51 amendments--21 from Republicans, 21 from Democrats, and 9 bipartisan. We have had many great amendments. This is a good start, and we are working toward a second managers' package with even more priorities for Democrats and Republicans. I want to thank Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Wicker, all the other chairs and rankers, and all of my colleagues and the staff who worked long and hard over the weekend for their good work on this bill.…”