Political Quotes

“Mr. President, very briefly, every single Member of this Chamber understands that eventually we will have to have the intestinal fortitude to reduce infrastructure if we are going to support force structure. This amendment moves us in precisely the opposite direction. If we don't have the fortitude to make those choices, let's at least let our commanders have the flexibility so they can make the choices for us in the interim. Mr. President, virtually every Member of this body knows that another one or two rounds of base closures will not only save money, but will save billions. But many in the Congress have concluded unequivocally that preserving jobs and infrastructure in their states and districts is more important than military readiness and modernization. Some are in fact determined to punish the Administration for its actions related to privatization-in-place at Kelly and McClellan Air Force Bases. But who is being punished? We punish the nation's taxpayers when we fail to make the best use of the resources with which they entrust us. We punish today's soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines whose readiness depends on adequate funding for equipment, training and operations. We punish tomorrow's force as we continue to mortgage research, development, and modernization of equipment necessary to keep America strong into the 21st century.”