Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this week, the Senate will vote on the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which is one of the most important bills we consider each year. We had a robust floor debate on the Senate version of this bill in July featuring the kind of open amendment process we should be using on a regular basis to debate important legislation. All told, more than 900 amendments were considered, and 121 amendments were adopted during floor consideration, making this the most open NDAA floor debate in years. I wish we had been able to take up a final version of this legislation earlier, but I am glad we are on track to finally pass it this week. I have said it before, and I will say it again. If we don't get national security right, the rest is conversation. The security of our Nation is the precondition for everything else--for the continued enjoyment of our freedoms, for a flourishing society, for a healthy economy, for government's ability literally to do anything. So there is no time when we can afford to let our readiness slide or to take the security of our Nation for granted. But the unfortunate truth is that we have some catching up to do when it comes to military preparedness. We have military services that are well below their recruitment targets. We are behind on shipbuilding and ship maintenance. There is a persistent pilot shortage, and in a number of cases, we have too few mission-capable aircraft.…”