Political Quotes

“Mr. President, there has been a lot of discussion about many things--and I will get to missile defense in just one moment--but I don't think there is anything, as it relates to nuclear issues, that threatens our national security more than our not investing in the arsenal we have. I think what we see is a commitment by appropriators on the Senate side, the President of the United States, those within the NNSA and our military complex who believe modernization has to occur. Candidly, the only thing today that would keep us from actually doing modernization the way it needs to be done would be Republican appropriators. So I just wish to say to my friends on this side of the aisle, it seems to me, through Senator Kyl's efforts and the efforts of people working in a cooperative way, we have been very successful in getting the commitments we need on modernization. By the way, I would add, I do not think we would be talking about the issue of modernization today--something that hasn't been done for many years to this scale--if it were not for discussions of the START treaty. So I say to the Chair, I think we have enhanced our country's national security just by having this debate, and I would say we have sought and received commitments that otherwise we would not have received if it were not for the discussion of this treaty. The two are very related. I have heard a lot of people say there is no real relationship between the two.…”