Political Quotes

“Mr. President, first, I wish to say to the Senator from Maryland how much I appreciate the fact that we are reaching across the aisle and doing something that is right for the kids who are out there risking their lives for us. I make it a habit to go to the areas of combat with regularity, as do other members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and I always get a chance to really talk with and get to know them. You learn a lot more by talking to the kids in the mess hall there than you do by going to the committee hearings here in the United States. One of the things they have a real love for, as I am sure the Senator from Maryland suggested to you, is the commissary. In some areas that are remote, there is no competition. There aren't any Walmarts around; there is just a commissary. And there is almost a fraternal belief and feeling, as people go around--particularly, the spouses will meet there. They will do their shopping there. It is something that is very serious to them. There is language in this bill that says that they will take an experiment in some five different areas that have large commissaries, go ahead and privatize those, and then after that takes place, do an assessment as to whether they should be privatized. This amendment is very simple. It merely says: Let's do the assessment first. Why go ahead and close these commissaries if we find that is something that we should not, in fact, do? We have so many interests.…”