Political Quotes

“today it is a real privilege for me to be able to report to my colleagues and the people of America on a magnificent relief effort underway in Indonesia, where the December 26, 2004, tsunami left over 115,000 confirmed deaths, with potentially tens of thousands more swept out to certain death in the sea, leaving no record of their disappearance, and hundreds of thousands of surviving victims left in precarious positions, with inadequate water and food, facing potentially life-threatening diseases. On Saturday, January 15, a week ago this past Saturday, I walked through the primitive conditions in the mud, in the heat and humidity of Banda Aceh Airport to talk to the relief teams and the military personnel, Asian and American, gathered in a common cause. Some of these American troops are shown here in this picture. It was an extremely diverse group of individuals. They shared in the common beads of sweat dripping off the end of the nose from the oppressive climate. They had a compelling commitment to relieve the tremendous suffering of the people of Aceh and Northern Sumatra and a cooperative spirit that resolved questions and differences of opinion with speed and good humor.”