Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I too rise in support of this bill, the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. I want to begin by thanking the chairman and our staffs for the outstanding work that they have done putting together this bill. I think Mr. McKeon has more than risen to the level of the bipartisan tradition of our committee. He has upheld the tradition held by our predecessors that this committee should work together, Republicans and Democrats, that it should be an open and transparent process. I can say that I and my staff feel very, very good about the open process that we have had, although we have not agreed on everything--we do not agree on everything--that is in the bill; but where there were disagreements, we had an open and honest dialogue. We had votes in the committee, and now we will have votes on the floor. And overall I think the chairman and the members of both parties and staffs have put together a very strong bill that will protect our national defense and meet the primary duty of this Congress, and that is provide for the national defense and the national security of our country. So I thank the chairman and his staff for that work, and I look forward to continuing to work with him throughout this process. I also want to note one of our members, who was not able to be there during the course of our markup as she usually is, but nonetheless contributed greatly to the process.…”