Political Quotes

“I will not use all my time, by any means. I spoke earlier about this. I appreciate the courtesy of the distinguished senior Senator from Arizona. Senator Graham and I, as cochairs of the National Guard Caucus, introduced amendment No. 1072. I spoke earlier this afternoon about it, so I will not speak longer on it, except to say the amendment is long overdue. The men and women of our Guard deserve the same recognition as everyone else in uniform. It is high time we made sure they receive it. Senator Graham has been a close and valued partner in helping us bring about this bipartisan piece of legislation. Republicans and Democrats across the political spectrum have cosponsored it. I will close with this. The Senator from Arizona has been in war zones probably more than I ever will in my lifetime. The Senator from South Carolina certainly has been in Iraq and Afghanistan more than most Members of this body. But I think every one of us who has been in a war zone knows this. We see soldiers going out to face battle. Nobody knows whether they are members of the Guard or the regular forces. Certainly those who would do harm to our men and women in uniform do not say we will do different harm to members of the Guard or members of the regular forces. I say this because they all put their lives on the line. They all go through training. And we could not field the forces our Department of Defense is called upon to field without our Guard and Reserve.…”