Political Quotes

“America is indebted to the men and women of the armed forces. Their success in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world give witness to their bravery and commitment. In order to maintain this dedicated, all-volunteer force and to ensure its readiness, we must be proactive in providing them adequate quality of life and training facilities. The reality is that we are still correcting the spending deficiencies of the past. Even after years of funding plus-ups to the Department's military construction budget, service men and women continue to live and work in aging and inferior facilities. In fact, more than two-thirds of the services' current facilities are classified at 'C-3' or 'C-4' readiness levels. This signifies that their ability to carry out missions has been appreciably degraded. I am glad that we are able to work across party lines to ensure that military construction is funded at the highest levels possible. H.R. 2559 addresses many of the pressing construction and family housing needs facing the services. The bill would provide $1.2 billion for barracks, $16 million for child development centers, and $1.2 billion for new family housing units and improvements to existing ones. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2559, because these new and improved facilities will enhance the quality of life for our service members while they are doing their jobs and training to defend America.”