Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I will assume that there is support for my amendment. I just want to quickly address what Mr. McKeon has said on two levels. First of all, the amendment that we will be voting on later today on Don't Ask, Don't Tell specifically leaves it in the hands of the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be the one who will chair the policy. The policy will not be changed as a result of the amendment that we are passing. It will meet, absolutely, the requirement that the Secretary of Defense and others have put out to get input from the Armed Forces. And it will not, let me repeat, will not be changed until the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that change. They will have to certify it before we go forward. Second of all, this policy, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, this ridiculous policy that has driven people out of the military who are only too anxious to serve, has been in existence for 16 years. And I cannot speak for the gentleman from California, but I have spoken to many members of the Armed Forces during the course of that 16-year period about this policy, as I'm sure others have. So the main thing I object to is the characterization that the men and women of our Armed Forces have been left out of this debate. Nothing could be further from the truth.…”