Political Quotes

“I am waiting for one other speaker; so, while we are waiting, let me at least partially close. I, first of all, thank Chairman Royce's staff for their hard work on this very important bill. I thank Tom Sheehy, Ed Burrier, Tom Hill, and Doug Anderson, and on my staff, Jason Steinbaum, Doug Campbell, Eric Jacobstein, Janice Kaguyutan, Sajit Gandhi, Jennifer Hendrixson White, and Mark Iozzi. We can only do as well as the wonderful staff that we have, and it is really appreciated, I know, by Chairman Royce and by me. As was said before, Mr. Speaker, every single year, Congress passes a defense authorization. It happens without fail, and it should. It is a vitally important piece of legislation, and we have an obligation to give our women and men in uniform the support and the resources they need. {time} 1800 The work of our diplomats is very different, but it is also critical to our national security. These dedicated public servants help to project stability, enhance security, and diffuse crises before they start. From a dollars-and-cents perspective, it makes a lot more sense to prevent crises than to try to stop them after they are burning out of control. We need diplomacy to succeed so that using our military remains the last resort in our foreign policy. This legislation will help ensure that our diplomacy does succeed.…”