Political Quotes

“I rise today to defend two projects the President of the United States chose to veto in the military construction appropriations bill. The President claimed that three criteria had to be met for an item to be cut. First, the item was not requested in the President's fiscal year 1998 budget; second, it would not substantially improve the quality of life of military service members and their families; and third, architectural and engineering design of the project has not started, making it unlikely funds can be used for construction in fiscal year 1998. Only the first criterion was, in fact met in the two cases I rise to support. The first project the President struck was a tactical equipment shop at Ft. Campbell. The $9.9 million project would provide a vehicle maintenance shop, storage for a forward support battalion, and a combat support hospital. The project replaces a 55-year-old building that was constructed in 1942 as a temporary structure to last until the end of World War II. This project was, please note, fully designed, and therefore did not meet the President's third criterion. This facility is Ft. Campbell's No. 1 priority mission support project. The structure is literally falling down around its occupants and is ridiculously expensive to maintain.”