Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, while I rise in opposition to this rule, I want to express my strong support for the underlying bill, H.R. 1960, the National Defense Authorization Act. This legislation is not perfect; however, it ensures support for our men and women in uniform who sacrifice so much on our behalf, and includes provisions that are crucial to our military's future capabilities in this fiscally constrained environment. Now, among other things, it fully supports the President's request for the peerless Virginia-class submarines, as well as critical future enablers such as the Ohio Class Replacement and the Virginia Payload Module. It also includes the Oversight of Sensitive Military Operations Act which, for the first time, requires prompt notification to the defense committees of any overseas lethal or capture operations outside of Afghanistan, including those conducted with unmanned aerial vehicles. Furthermore, I'm pleased that this measure begins to tackle the epidemic of sexual assault in our military. Our people in uniform need to know that they are protected from and against sexual assault, and God forbid if there is a sexual assault that occurs, that the perpetrator is held accountable. While far more must be done, there are important first steps in this bill that are worthy of our strong support. Mr.…”