On the recordJuly 21, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I cannot forget the event in the Kigali Airport when I traveled with President Clinton to Rwanda and he spoke to Rwandans and apologized for our failure to act. There was a woman sitting there who had lost all of her family in front of her eyes. There was a priest there who had his arm cut off. There were people sitting there that the President acknowledged as people that the United States did not act to save. We have that same opportunity. We have it. It is in our hands. We have the capacity, and we must exercise our solemn duty to humanity for justice for everyone. No one on this floor, no one in this building should ever want to sit in a meeting like that again and say, we are really sorry; we knew it was going on, but we did not do anything. We must act.
Said by
Tom Lantos
Source
govinfo.gov