Political Quotes

“Madam President, it is Monday afternoon. We are back for what appears to be the last week of full session before we are due to go on an August recess. There is lots to do back home but clearly lots to do here in the Senate as well. It looks that this week we are going to probably spend the end of the week wrapping up some of the nominations that are out there, and I want to speak to a nomination that I feel very, very strongly about and would hope that we will have an opportunity to weigh in as a Senate on, on a priority that I don't think enough of us as Americans think about: our role as an Arctic nation. As we are processing nominations, I want to kind of move our attention to the top of the world, up in the Arctic. We have a lot of hotspots in the world right now, and the last thing in the world that we need is for the Arctic to become one of those hotspots. Whether we want it to or not, whether we want to will it away or not, the Arctic is increasingly gaining attention by others for different reasons, and the fact that the United States doesn't have that diplomatic presence, if you will, is a disservice, I believe, to us as an Arctic nation. So I have come to urge this body to take up the nomination of Dr. Mike Sfraga. Mike is an Alaskan, but he would be our Nation's first Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs. We have not had a confirmed Ambassador at Large position.…”