Rob Bishop: “it is said that politicians live in the past and statesmen vote for the future. Indeed, the options that we have today…”

“it is said that politicians live in the past and statesmen vote for the future. Indeed, the options that we have today, both militarily and diplomatic, are based on votes that were taken by Congress 10 or 15 years ago. The supplemental act recently unveiled by the Democratic majority appears to have been written by politicians, not statesmen. It includes the postponement of the acquisition of two F-35 fighter aircraft, which by itself does not seem too significant, but it bespeaks an attitude to be feared. For when we postpone the acquisition of technologically advanced military equipment, we place the future air superiority, something we have had since the Korean War and take for granted, in jeopardy. When we divert dollars from one branch of the military to support another branch of the military, we place all of the military in jeopardy. All four branches of the military deserve to be fully and adequately funded, and that is something this supplemental does not do. This supplemental simply starts us down the road to a place where a future Congress will look back and criticize us for our failure to be statesmen.”