Political Quotes

“My colleague is fully aware, because no one has spent more time over in these areas of hostility than my good friend from Arizona, that when you talk to these guys, and you sit in the mess hall with them, one of the things--and we know this is true because we have both had experience in the military--they are talking about is their careers. They are talking about their careers. Right now our retention is as good as it has ever been. What is going to happen to our retention if all of a sudden we renege on the reenlistment bonuses that they all depend upon? They all talk to each other. About the time that stops on December 31, I have great fear over what is going to happen to our retention rate. I talked about in the very beginning about what has happened in the military in the last 4\1/2\ years, and I read all of the statements from our commanders, from Dempsey, and actually even the Secretary of Defense, talking about what a crisis it is. They all said it is much more of a crisis if we don't pass this bill. This isn't going to help us like it should. We should be in much better shape than this even if we pass it. But we have to pass this or all those things we talked about which are going to be affecting our troops directly are going to take place. Mr. McCAIN. I finally say to my friend, I thank him for his leadership.…”