Political Quotes

“I know other Senators have already spoken on this, but I would hope Members would oppose the Paul amendment. The amendment would cut, among other things, $7.3 billion from the Department of State and the USAID. It would decimate programs that fund the foreign policy priorities of both the administration and the Congress. A cut of that size would be about two-thirds of the total funding appropriated for these purposes, some of which has already been spent. I remember when James Mattis was the Secretary of Defense. He is a man I admire for his work as a four-star general with the Marine Corps and as Defense Secretary. He is not a man who looked at the world or the needs of our military in an abstract fashion; he dealt with it every day. He came before our Committee on Appropriations and said: If you want to cut foreign aid, buy me more bullets. He made it very clear that there are areas in the world where what we do keeps us from having to go to combat. The Paul amendment would practically eliminate the remaining budget for programs to strengthen democracy, combat corruption, promote economic growth, improve water and sanitation, aid victims of war and natural disasters, and support our allies and partners in countless ways.…”