Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to support this resolution with great reluctance. I have had many great conversations and discussions with the sponsor of this resolution since coming to Congress about the issues of war and peace and justice. He even came to my district last year to join me in a town hall on the war in Afghanistan. He's been a great leader on this issue and a great friend. I agree with the gentleman about the need to bring our troops home from Afghanistan as soon as possible. Recently, I joined a number of my colleagues in writing to the President to make clear our belief that the troop withdrawals from Afghanistan should be ``substantial, significant, and orderly.'' The gentleman from Ohio did not join that letter although as I said, I know he shares the same goals of all those who signed it. A few weeks ago, I voted for an amendment to H.R. 1 that would limit funding for the war in Afghanistan to $10 billion, with the hope that those funds would be used by the Defense Department to plan and implement a timetable for the safe and expeditious withdrawal of our troops. I want an end to these wars. One of the criteria that I have used for supporting those efforts and similar efforts in the past by a number of my colleagues is that we have to allow our military planners to implement that withdrawal in a way that is safe, orderly and responsible. I doubt that the 30 day-withdrawal deadline in this bill meets that criteria.…”