Political Quotes

“I tell my colleagues what worries me about the way we are doing this. I would doubt that the leadership asked the chairman of the Subcommittee on Defense where to cut this bill. Now, during the entire time that I have been on this committee, we have cut substantial amounts from defense, but we never did an across-the-board cut without knowing what the implications were. Some people said, well, General Shelton testified this way, General Shelton testified that way. Well, I have said, the gentleman from California (Chairman Lewis) has said, the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young) has said, the Defense Department has been short money for the last several years. We have said it over and over again. When I go to a base, I find 20 percent short across the line. I find them short on real property maintenance. I find them short on O&M. Anybody that goes to any of our military bases will find the same thing. Secretary Cohen called me the other day. He said, 'I want to tell you how much I appreciate what the Members of Congress did to raise the pay and change the whole thing for retirement.' He appreciated it. He said the enthusiasm and morale is marvelous. Now, I do not want to say what I went through in order to make sure this bill was not vetoed. I mean, I have had a few amiable discussions with a lot of people. There was a tremendous pressure to veto this bill. I decided that we could not veto it. We had a good bill. Everybody said this is a good bill.”