Political Quotes

“Again, I just want to thank the chairman and the staff for putting together an outstanding bill. This is no small enterprise. It is $691 billion. It is critical policy to provide for the national security for our country, critical policy to make sure that our troops and their families are properly taken care of, they have the equipment and support that they need to do the job that we ask them to do. And I think Mr. McKeon, the members of the committee, and the staff have done an outstanding job. I do want to also recognize our past chairman, Mr. Skelton. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, there is a strong bipartisan tradition on this committee. Mr. Skelton upheld that very well, and Mr. McKeon has done so as well. It was an honor to work with Mr. Skelton. I appreciate his leadership and guidance for all of us on the committee. I do just want to mention one issue that I neglected to mention in my opening remarks, and that is to associate myself with the remarks of Mr. Langevin with regard to the energy amendment that was contained in this bill. I think it's critical that we give the Department of Defense the ability to pursue alternative sources of energy that actually do improve our position in terms of greenhouse gases, and improve our position in terms of reducing our dependency--well, sorry, increasing our ability to use clean-burning sources of fuel. The amendment that was attached to this would allow to be considered alternative the use of fuels that really aren't.…”