Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, this is a very popular issue. We have had this issue before, of course, in the name of burdensharing. But I want to remind my colleagues, this is not a goal, this is the real thing. In burdensharing we had a goal. I listed a number of points here that hopefully will convince most of the people that this is a bad deal. Number one, the force level we have now is a minimum requirement, according to the current national security strategy, which is the QDR. Number two, the Secretary of Defense right now is conducting a European posture review to re-evaluate force requirements in Europe. Number three, the presence of U.S. forces helps Europe to preserve regional stability and recover from instability. Number four, there is no substitute for being there. Europe is a major staging area for surrounding regions. Number five, the presence of sizeable U.S. forces in theater is a visible demonstration of our commitment to NATO. Number six, U.S. forces in Europe play a vital role in rebuilding Eastern Europe through a partnership for peace. Mr. Chairman, let me just say this, the troops that we have in Europe are there for our convenience, not the Europeans' convenience, with stability and other things, and the ability to go from Europe to anyplace, along with families who travel with our troops.”