Political Quotes

“I wish to thank Senator Kyl and Senator McCain for their leadership on this issue and state that I believe the McCain amendment is perhaps the most critical amendment that will be raised during this debate because the future of missile defense is critically important for America. I chaired the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces in the Armed Services Committee. I have been the ranking member of the subcommittee and a member of the committee for 12 years, and I know all of the history on this issue. It has gone on for a great deal of time. I believe missile defense is critical to our national security. We have invested billions of dollars over 30-plus years developing it, and now that we are actually deploying it in Alaska and California, it is proving to be a shield that will work. We had plans for a long time to deploy a site in Central Europe. The Bush administration negotiated with the Poles and Czechoslovakia. They signed agreements that they would allow a radar base in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland. When President Obama was elected, the Russians immediately started pushing back on our missile defense plans for reasons I have never fully understood. We are only talking about 10 defensive missiles against hundreds--hundreds, maybe thousands--of Russian missile and launch vehicles. It would in no way threaten their power.”