Political Quotes

“I want to make clear that my opposition to the bill at this point is not just based on the exclusion of the amendment that would have lifted the discrimination against the LGBT community. That was sort of the last straw. I was on the fence about this bill from the very beginning because, understand that this bill continues the pattern of the last few years, of putting our defense on a fiscal path to nowhere, a fiscal path towards a cliff of not having the money to fund what needs to be funded because the Budget Control Act remains in place. Now, the chairman repeatedly says that in 2008, we did this when a new administration was coming in. We only funded half of the overseas contingency operation fund, knowing the supplemental was coming. There was no Budget Control Act in 2008. The Budget Control Act is in place. Even if we get a supplemental in April--and in this Congress, getting additional money is no guarantee--the Budget Control Act remains in place, and this Congress has shown a complete unwillingness to get rid of it. So what we are doing by funding all of these programs that some of my colleagues have started, we are funding a defense that we cannot sustain. I think the best example of this is the military wanted to cut the size of the Marine Corps and the Army.…”