Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 4 minutes. I want to thank Chairman McKeon and the entire committee--and most importantly the staff. It's always this time of year when our staff never sleeps and does an amazing job of pulling this bill together. We, once again, worked in a very bipartisan fashion, worked the bill through the process--a series of hearings, the markup last week. I thank the chairman for his excellent leadership in continuing that bipartisan tradition in the hopes of, for the 52nd straight year, getting our bill done. So I appreciate working with him and with all the members of the committee and the staff. This bill, overall, sets the right priorities, I believe. It makes sure that our military is funded and that our troops get the equipment and support that they need to carry out the missions that we ask them to do. That is something General Dempsey says all the time: We'll do whatever you ask us to do; just make sure that you provide us with the resources to do it. Whatever missions we as policymakers decide the military should perform, it's our obligation to make sure that it's funded. I believe this bill does that. It particularly prioritizes Special Operations Forces, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, and the kind of equipment that we will need to confront the terrorist asymmetric threats that are so central to our challenges right now on national security. As the chairman mentioned, it also takes steps on the sexual assault problem.…”