Political Quotes

“I thank Chairman McKeon. Mr. Chairman, much of this bill is totally bipartisan. Two important provisions relate to missile defense and our nuclear weapons infrastructure modernization. Let me talk briefly about those two. The first, in this bill we restore the funding for our national missile defense system, the budget for which the President has repeatedly slashed. This bill also sets up a third missile defense site for the east coast, adding another layer to homeland defense. The bill fully funds the nuclear modernization program that President Obama promised when he sought ratification of the New START Treaty. National security demands Members make a choice--fully fund modernization or don't implement New START. Also a focus of this bill is reform of the National Nuclear Security Administration. If we didn't strike the right balance after several bipartisan sessions and hearings Ms. Sanchez and I convened, we have a long process ahead of us to work to get it right. As the National Academies, Strategic Posture Commission, and others have found, NNSA is, quite simply, broken and cannot afford to be left unfixed. I am absolutely committed to working with the minority and the administration to ensure a more efficient NNSA that has the nuclear deterrent and safety as unchallenged priorities. I look forward to an administration proposal on the subject. I thank the gentlelady from California (Ms.…”