Political Quotes

“I thank the Chair. Mr. President, we have had a very extensive and very thoughtful debate about the underlying amendment by Senator McCain to increase OCO spending by $18 billion strictly for Department of Defense operations and functions, and those are very critical and very important. There have been two principles we have followed over the last several years when it comes to trying to push back the effects of sequestration. Those principles have been that the security of the United States is significantly affected by the Department of Defense's operations, but not exclusively. Indeed, there are many functions outside the parameters of the Department of Defense that are absolutely critical and essential to the protection of the American people at home and abroad: the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the CDC. So that has been one of the principles. The other principle we recognize is that that in lifting these temporary limits, we have to do it on an equal basis. What the amendment Senator Mikulski and I have offered does is embrace these two principles. We would add an additional $18 billion to the chairman's $18 billion. That would encompass the broader view of national security, and do so in a way that I think is very sensible, and allow us to go forward as we have in the past.…”