Political Quotes

“we have a simultaneous war on Afghanistan and Iraq, and I will be brief, but I had to call a family today in my district. Evan O'Neill, a 19 year old, great kid, was killed in Afghanistan, and I had to talk to his father, Mike. His mother, Barbara is a nurse. His father is a firefighter in Andover, Massachusetts. A Vietnam war veteran, he was injured himself. I think this has nothing to do with partisan politics, but we have to think about the uprising in Afghanistan of the Taliban and al Qaeda, and consider the fact that while we have the Taliban on the run and while we have certainly put a dent into al Qaeda, there are many in this chamber who have asked the question whether or not we could conduct 2 simultaneous wars. And I just want to take a moment to reflect on Evan O'Neill and his heroic fight for our country in tracking down the Taliban in al Qaeda. He gave the ultimate sacrifice today: his life. The point I want to make is, and my colleagues recognize this, what we are talking about on this floor is serious business. It is about life and death, and the decisions that we make and this administration make about war and peace is about dollars, it is about investment, but it is also about human life. And I, for one Member of Congress, am tired of having to talk to families who have lost loved ones. On September 11 I had 31 of them from my district. We have to think about these issues.”