Political Quotes

“I don't have any further speakers at this time. If the gentleman from Texas is prepared to close, then I am prepared to close as well. I yield myself the balance of the time. Again, I just want to emphasize the most important aspect of this bill is the bipartisan effort that we have done working together. There are literally thousands of provisions in this bill. All of them are important in their own way to helping make sure that we set the right policy and make sure that the Department of Defense can be as strong as is humanly possible. One thing I didn't say in the opening remarks, that I do want to point out, I particularly want to thank Chairman Thornberry on his leadership on acquisition reform and reform in general--the idea of how can we make sure that every dollar we spend at the Pentagon is spent as wisely as possible. As we know that has not always been the case. I think we made a number of reforms, more in the previous two years' bill than in this one, but this one continues on that. I think it put us on a path to having a more efficient and effective use use of dollars on the Pentagon side. We all look forward to that day, which is supposed to happen I believe this year, when we actually get the full audit from the Pentagon on where they spend their money. In these times of scarce resources, it is incredibly important we get the most out of what we spend. And the last little piece on that point, I do worry about the future from a fiscal standpoint.…”