Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1540, the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. I would like to begin by thanking Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member Smith, and my subcommittee chairman, Mr. Thornberry, for their leadership and commitment to keeping our Nation safe and protecting our servicemembers. As a conferee, I was proud to join them in signing the conference report Monday night, and I am even more proud of our excellent staff that completed a full conference in a record 1 week's time. As ranking member of the Emerging Threats Subcommittee, I am especially pleased with the inclusion of significant funding for special operations forces, the full reauthorization of the SBIR program to support our job-creating small businesses, and also the inclusion of important cyberprotections to prevent future incidents similar to WikiLeaks. This bill will also ensure the long-term strength of programs critical to our naval dominance and strategic posture, such as the purchase of two new Virginia class submarines, fully funding the development of the Ohio replacement submarine, and continuing work on the first Zumwalt DDG-1000 destroyer.…”