Political Quotes

“I agree fully with the gentlewoman from Arizona, and I thank her so much for being part of this Special Order this evening. Mr. Speaker, I think there are a number of important points that the gentlewoman from Arizona brings up. And she talks about training. I think training is one of those elements that is absolutely essential for us to remember that that training doesn't happen by accident. It happens because of concerted efforts here in Congress, within the Pentagon, within the service branches, all the way down to the unit level to make sure that training takes place. But it doesn't take place when there is uncertainty about funding, because what is the first thing in a budget that gets put on hold when it pertains to our service branches? When they look at uncertainty, what is the place where they have the maximum flexibility? It is training. When you look at it, they have money that is already obligated in programs to do things like build ships, to build aircraft, but the one place where they can move money around is for training. I can tell you that that has a tremendous impact on units at the unit level, commanders trying to figure out: How am I going to make sure my units get the training? As I spoke of earlier, it is not just about tactical training; it is about training at the strategic level.…”