On the recordJuly 27, 2017
I ask unanimous consent that my remarks count against leader time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator from Arizona. Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I don't want to continue; our leader has important words to say. All I can say to the Senator from New York is, this is not the same. Defending the Nation is our first priority. That is what our Declaration of Independence says. That is the basis for all of our roles here. There are men and women who are in harm's way today, whose lives are in danger, who need this legislation in order to be better equipped and better able to defend themselves and this Nation. I am asking for a few hours because, as my two colleagues over there will state, we passed this bill 27 to 0 through the Armed Services Committee. We fight. We argue. We insult. But the fact is, we come out with a product that we are proud of, and then all of us have support. So all I am asking of the Senator from New York is if we could go off of this for a few hours, because we have basically an agreement on amendments, and get this thing to the President's desk so that he can protect and defend this Nation. That is all I am asking.
