Political Quotes

“I am supporting the fiscal year 2001 Defense Appropriations Act with a very mixed sense of frustrated resignation and expectant hope for the way we are resourcing our national defense. A major source of frustration this year is that we will have missed yet another opportunity through the decision made in the budget process to meet our new, growing or neglected national security requirements. We should have been able to fix our military medical health care system and keep our promise of health care to thousands of military retirees who feel they have been cheated by the nation. We should have been able to raise the pay of our service members to bring it more in line with the private sector faster. We should have been able to fund our dangerous ship and aircraft maintenance backlogs. We should have been able to lay the foundation for increasing our ship construction rate to ensure we keep our 300-ship Navy strong and ready. We should have been able to increase our funding of basic science and technology to set the conditions for the rapid development of the next generations of ships, aircraft, and land combat forces. It is a source of continuing disappointment to me that there is still too much parochial, pork-barrel spending in the defense appropriation process. Last year, the Defense Appropriations bill was so overburdened with pork, I voted against it in protest.”