Political Quotes

“Let me mention a couple of others to the Senator from Arizona. His specific question is, What expires on December 31? In addition to the hazard pay that was articulated by the chairman, we also have the reenlistment bonus. I think any of us who have served in the military remember that as you get close to your date of discharge, you make a plan for the future as to what you are going to do in terms of reenlistment. It is all based on assumptions of reenlistment bonuses. If all of a sudden they disappear, you could not have that. What is that going to do to our forces? Impact Aid. Impact aid is something people do not really think about unless they happen to be in an area that has a lot of military activity where people have been taken off the tax rolls. On January 1, impact aid would end. So, yes, there is a lot of concern over this. We talked for a long time about what will happen with this bill in terms of military construction that is partially done or the building of various platforms. But what would actually happen as of January 1 would be really a crisis if we were to have to stop these things. Mr. McCAIN. I should have stated at the beginning that I am very proud of the leadership that both Senator Inhofe and Senator Levin have provided to the Armed Services Committee. I serve on a number of committees and have served on a number of committees in my time in the Senate.…”