Response from Senator Burr on his objection to Armed Services Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) issued the following statement:

“Much has been said about my objection to the Armed Services Committee chairman’s request to meet on Wednesday afternoon which required unanimous consent of Congress. Being the only Republican on the floor at the time, and knowing that one or more Republicans had an objection to holding the hearing, I objected. The record states that I prefaced my objection by saying that, as a member of the committee, I had no personal objection to the hearing. That point was restated today by the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin (D-Michigan).

“My colleague, Kay Hagan, was quick to criticize my action on TV and in print. Today, when I attended the rescheduled Armed Services hearing, I was shocked to find that my only critic, Kay Hagan, was not in attendance. Earlier this week, Senator Hagan said that this hearing was an issue of national security, but clearly sometimes actions speak louder than words.

“I did take the opportunity to publicly and privately apologize to our military leaders today for the hearing’s delay.”

Senator Burr’s statement on the floor objecting to Armed Services hearing on Wednesday:

“As a member of the committee, and I side myself with the chair and the ranking member, I have no personal objection to continuing. There is objection on our side of the aisle. Therefore, I would have to object.”

Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin’s statement from the rescheduled hearing today

“You happened to be on the floor at the moment when someone else wanted to raise an objection and you did what you are duty bound to do as a member of your caucus, which is to reflect that objection,”

Senator Kay Hagan’s comments in reaction to my objection:

“Anytime we’re dealing with our military and our veterans, we need to realize we are at war. This was a serious meeting and we certainly need to accommodate our generals when they are here, and I think we should have held that hearing.”

INFORMATION FROM A NEWS RELEASE SENT TO THE WWAY NEWSCHANNEL 3 NEWSROOM.