Political Quotes

“I want to commend the Senator from Virginia for his articulate and passionate and compelling comments this evening--and all of my colleagues. All of them have made the point that these holds have cascading effects. It is not just the individual nominee; it is the person waiting to take his or her position. It is not just someone in uniform; it is a family. We are talking about hundreds of people on the list for nominations. We are talking about thousands of people whose lives will be changed--extraordinarily changed. The particular effects are on the family. No one serves in the military alone. Families serve. And when you see the disruption that is going to take place--young people not being able to get into schools, teachers who give up their teaching jobs and can't get another--those are real, real costs, in addition, obviously, to every day wondering whether that servicemember who is your spouse or your father will return, or whether mother will return, and, particularly, when they are committed overseas in areas of combat or confrontation. Now, what Senator Tuberville has said is, ``Well, let's just vote on them.'' That is ridiculous. We know it would take months and months of exclusive voting on these nominations to clear this list, while another list is building up. And also, there has been some suggestion that we simply--well, we have to get a Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps or the Commandant. Let's vote on a commandant.…”