Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wish to comment on the two pending amendments. I will begin by thanking my colleague from South Carolina for his thoughtful and kind words about the collaboration we have both witnessed on the committee as we brought this bill to the floor under the leadership of Chairman McCain. Amendment No. 4204 First, with respect to the Inhofe-Mikulski amendment, I share their concerns about the quality of commissaries. It is an essential service for military personnel. In fact, it is really in the fabric of military life, being able to go to a commissary. It is an important benefit, particularly for junior members, those who aren't as well paid as more senior members of the military. But both the chairman and my colleagues on the committee--many of them recognize the need to look for alternate approaches for delivering services to military families but doing so in a way that can save resources that could be used for operations and maintenance, for training, equipment--all the critical needs we are seeing much more clearly at this moment. So we have proposed--and I support the chairman's proposal--to try a pilot program for commissaries that would be run by commercial entities. I think there is merit to this proposal. I want to emphasize that it is a pilot program. It is not a wholesale replacement of the commissary system.…”