Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. President. As we approach the final vote on the fiscal year 2018 national defense authorization bill, I would like to make a few closing comments. When we began considering this bill last week, Senator McCain and I were interested in returning to regular order and having debate and votes on any amendment that needed a vote. We actually started off very well. While I disagreed with Senator Paul's amendment to sunset the current authorization for the use of military force, I am pleased we were able to follow regular order on his amendment and have a debate. It is my hope that we can use this as a step to restore regular order going forward and work together, along with Senator Paul, in drafting a new AUMF that more precisely addresses the threats we face and resolves the issue, which is very critical, that Senator Paul has raised; that is, updating the AUMF. After the Paul amendment, however, we were unable to come to an agreement on further votes. As a result, several issues that are important to both sides were not fully considered. On the Democratic side, Senators Baldwin, Stabenow, and Donnelly had very important amendments that would have ensured important protection for American workers and that our servicemembers receive high-quality, domestically produced equipment.…”