Political Quotes

“Thank you so much. I appreciate the gentleman yielding, Judge Carter, for your leadership on this topic and also Representatives Gohmert and Kingston for their leadership on this. I will say this: As the son of an Iwo Jima veteran and as the proud father of a third-generation marine, it is deeply troubling to me that we are even having to discuss how and if our men and women in uniform are going to be compensated. A failure of leadership, Mr. Speaker, has left us in this precarious position, and it is deeply troubling to me that we are having to address it tonight, the confusion that's out there. Just today, the White House said that military personnel would not be paid. Now, Mr. Speaker, this is failed leadership. How could it possibly be that the message from our Commander in Chief is that it's very likely if this shutdown occurs that our men and women in uniform would not be compensated? This week, a senior Department of Defense official said that our troops would be paid for a week but not for 2 weeks. Just yesterday, the Pentagon spokesman said that the Department had not issued any direction to the services about implementing a shutdown. And he really skirted the question of how a shutdown would affect the pay of our servicemembers. Mr. Speaker, this lack of clarity is not only unnecessary, it's unconscionable. Brave men and women--Americans--are around the globe, and they are putting their lives at risk fighting for our freedom and our way of life.…”