Political Quotes

“No one disagrees that we need to control spending. The distinguished chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the distinguished ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee work very hard to control spending. As a member of that committee I know the votes I have cast to substantially cut spending. We need to eliminate programs that are wasteful or can no longer be justified. We need to be frugal about what new programs we fund. But just as we are in a different world today than when I came to the Senate 35 years ago, the things we need to do to respond to the challenges of today are different than they were 35 years ago. The way we respond to those challenges is different than when the distinguished Appropriations chairman was gallantly fighting to protect our Nation in World War II--something which we all honor and the Nation has honored when he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. But he, like so many others, tried to make the world safe for democracy, but I think he also wanted to make it a world where America could achieve its goals through the strength of its ideas and not just through its military might. This amendment is not going to make a dent in the Federal deficit by cutting $1.1 billion from the State and Foreign Operations budget. The amendment, however well intentioned, would permit a small minority of the Senate to dictate to the majority. It would limit the global influence of the United States.…”