Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I want to really follow on what the distinguished Senator from New Mexico was saying, because I think he laid out very…”

“I want to really follow on what the distinguished Senator from New Mexico was saying, because I think he laid out very well the problems that we are facing with our military today. No one questions the job our military is doing. They are doing their jobs well. But it is clear that we are losing our experienced people. As the Senator from New Mexico has just pointed out, we are losing our experienced pilots, we do not have enough parts to keep the airplanes running, and the Army had its worst recruiting year last year since the late 1970s. At the time that we are looking at mission fatigue, our troops being overdeployed away from their families on missions that are not security threats to the United States, we are now seeing a mixed message from this administration about yet expanding their responsibilities. We were told in the last few weeks that NATO is contemplating airstrikes in Serbia. This is, of course, a terrible and tragic situation in Kosovo. And, clearly, we want to try to do everything possible to curb atrocities that are happening and may happen in the future in Kosovo. But, Mr. President, a superpower cannot fling around the world without a plan, without a thought, and have credibility.”