Political Quotes

“I think there are a lot of thank-yous to go around: The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spence), the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) and all the people who forged this bipartisan bill. There is a wave of bipartisanship sweeping the Congress for our military. It is long overdue. It is something to be proud of. It is something to congratulate each other over. The President is going to sign the bill. This is what the American people want, addressing real needs and real threats. It is a real threat to this country. Other speakers have spoken of threats in terms of terrorist activity. They are real, too. We need to do more. We have cut our military by 40 percent in personnel and equipment. We need to do more to counter those threats. But this is a real threat. Another threat is having quality men and women manning these systems. We have done a lot to deter people from staying in the military. We can come together in pay and benefits in a bipartisan fashion to make sure that not only we have a missile defense system but we have the quality people that we need to maintain these systems in the next century. That is the challenge for this Congress. Let us rise to the occasion. I hope there is more of this over time where we come together to make sure America is strong.”