Political Quotes

“let us not assume that our European allies will not live up to their commitment. Let me, furthermore, say that what we are simply saying in this amendment is that when they pledge $140 million, $30 million is not good enough; that when they pledge $410 million to reconstruct Kosovo and they only gave $44 million, that is not enough; and when they pledge to put 3,800 police, which is a vital component of rebuilding, and they only provide 1,800, that is not enough. We are not trying to force the Europeans to do more than what they want to do. All this amendment says is that they ought to do what they said that they wanted to do. All this amendment says is, they said they were going to give these dollars, they ought to give these dollars. If the Europeans have no interest in, at least, keeping their word, then what is the prospect for long-term peace there? The fact is this amendment will strengthen the U.S. military. Secondly, it sends a clear message in post-Cold War America that people need to shoulder their burden. Thirdly, simple workers across America say, hey, if they made this pledge, why can they not live up to it? It was our flesh and blood that went over there and made the peace. We are not asking them to carry the whole load. We are only asking them to carry the load that they committed to us. That makes good sense.”