Henk Vredeling Quotes

The purchase of unnecessary military hardware is undoubtedly the most wasteful element in American government.

Sometimes Republicans want to cut the social welfare programs and yet they ask for billions and billions more for the Defense Department. I don’t take that approach.

I have long believed there is a lot of waste in the defense budget.

The Pentagon budget, like all government spending, is an expression of priorities.

What I say is, national defense is the most important thing we do in Washington, but there's still waste in the military budget.

We can always find money for what the military wants.

The Republicans can't say no to military spending, and the Democrats can't say no to social spending.

I am firmly against the kind of logrolling which would subject our defense program to narrowly sectional or selfish pulling or hauling. But I am growing pretty hot under the collar about the way my state of West Virginia is being shortchanged by the Army, Navy and Air Force.

I have long maintained the military budget is not a jobs bill... and will continue to support the lowest budget possible.

My belief has always been that national defense is the most important thing we do, but we shouldn't borrow to pay for it.

Beginning to dismantle the Pentagon would save $1 trillion a year - a small government proposal if ever there was one.

I am not disputing the need for this money. What I am disputing and calling attention to is the fact that we are taking the tab for defense in our time against terrorists in the Middle East and elsewhere and shoving this tab off onto our children.

We cannot allow anything that's called 'national defense' to justify any and all spending. We need to be very, very careful that we don't overspend and say, 'Oh, that's defense,' when perhaps it isn't.

Spending an extra dollar on the D.C. public school system isn't spending an extra dollar on education. Spending an extra dollar with the Pentagon doesn't buy you an extra dollar on defense. Republicans need to look skeptically at military spending.

In Congress, while the House's proposed defense budget calls for significant increases, it also cuts 11 billion dollars from veterans spending - including healthcare and disability pay. Be clear: we can't equate spending on veterans with spending on defense.

The sinews of war are infinite money.

Pentagon dollars are essentially seen as a different kind of funding that doesn't have to stand for itself and make an argument for itself in the house of Congress.

The reality is, the United States has global interests. Our defense budget is about the same as the defense budgets or military budgets of every other country in the world put together.

I was able to promote a strong defense budget when it could have been cut a lot more severely.

A billion dollars every week for Iraq, $87 billion for Iraq. We can't get $5 billion for childcare over five years in welfare reform.

During the 2000 election, the current administration told our military, help is on the way. That is clearly not the case. The administration has failed to request the funds needed for the defense of this Nation. We must give the Army what it needs.

I've had this underlying need to go to a place and meet people who are on the other end of the portion of my tax money that goes to fund the U.S. and other militaries.

Let's push the Pentagon off the fiscal cliff.

We need to stop spending money on those weapons systems that do not advance national security.

It's a tough time my friends. We need to make sacrifices to ensure our troops have the tools they need in order to get the job done. This budget will help us win the War on Terror.