Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member for yielding. In committee, we went through over 600 amendments and 12 hours of debate to arrive at this point, and we definitely had our share of differences along the way; but, in the end, we were able to come together to arrive at a very good bipartisan bill. But this floor debate is quite different. The majority has elected to add several nongermane bills to the NDAA at Rules that have nothing to do with defense. And perhaps even more problematic, these bills are partisan and have been recommended that they be vetoed by the President if they were to pass alone. So the majority has decided to tack it on to a must-pass piece of legislation. We should not use our servicemembers as a tool to achieve a partisan agenda. I voted in opposition to the rule, and I hope that I can vote for final passage of the Mac Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act. I do, though, want to highlight three areas of note that accelerate our national security in the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. In the undersea warfare, we made the biggest move in the bill by authorizing a second Virginia-class submarine. It is imperative that we move to accelerate the entirety of the undersea capabilities and say to potential aggressors: Today is not your day. Dissuading aggressor nations is the cornerstone of peace upon which our national security and our collective economy rest.…”