Political Quotes

“Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for your steadfast commitment to the men and women who gallantly serve our country on the battlefield. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the resolution. First, let me get one argument out of the way. I've heard before some of my colleagues who support an American retreat from Afghanistan describe this effort as a fiscal matter. I would respond to that argument by simply stating that it's not a question of whether we can afford to fund a military presence in Afghanistan, it's a matter of whether we can afford not to, particularly at this point. I think my colleagues know that I'm very uncomfortable spending taxpayer dollars without a solid justification, and I would match my fiscal conservative credentials with anybody in this body. But when it comes to national security and when it comes to the care and protection of our troops in harm's way, we must not be, to use a phrase that you often hear on this floor, penny wise and pound foolish. Further, a premature withdrawal of American troops from the Afghan theater would send a terrible message to both our friends and also to our adversaries. To our allies in the war on terrorism whom we would leave essentially twisting in the wind, to those 47 other nations that have joined the coalition in Afghanistan, we would essentially be saying, ``Good luck. You're on your own.'' Not exactly what they had in mind when they joined us in this fight.…”