Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1301, the FY17 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. The world is more dangerous and unstable than any time in recent history. The U.S. and our allies face constant threats from countries including Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea. ISIS and other global terrorists threaten our very way of life. Our number one responsibility as Members of Congress is to provide for the defense of this Nation. I commend Chairman Frelinghuysen for the outstanding job he did drafting the FY17 bill. He deserves our thanks for producing such a significant and meaningful bill. Since becoming the chairwoman of the Defense Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, I have spent a lot of time talking to senior defense leaders to find out what they need to combat these threats. They have unanimously stated that the only thing our adversaries respect is strength, and they need this bill passed to ensure our military is as strong and effective as possible. Sequestration and reduced budget requests have caused the military to be underfunded for too long. This bill begins a process of rebuilding our military and giving our warfighters the resources they need to counter the numerous complex threats around the world. This bill reverses the drawdown of end strength and instead increases it by 36,000 troops above the FY17 budget request.…”