Political Quotes

“I wish to compliment the distinguished chairman of the committee and the ranking member, the senior Senator from South Carolina, for the very swift yet thorough manner of this nomination. It is important that there be continuity in our defense leadership. I wish to compliment President Clinton in handling a different and a difficult situation in the retirement of Secretary Aspin, for whom we have great respect and gratitude for his service, and the very swift selection of an absolutely well-qualified individual in Dr. Perry. I have always taken an interest in this particular nomination, having been privileged to serve in the Department under three Secretaries of Defense, and during my tenure in the Senate having worked with five other Secretaries. Dr. Perry will rank at the very top among the finest of those Secretaries of Defense in the history of the United States. We saw yesterday in his testimony responses to the most difficult of questions, such as North Korea--complex, unanswerable in many ways. Yet, he went to the very heart of that serious problem consistently and explicitly, and sent a message to this Nation. Then he shifted to the mundane yet no less important battle of dealing with waste, fraud, and abuse, primarily in the procurement process in the Department of Defense.”