Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, the fight against terror is, at one level, a military struggle, but it is also, at its roots, a battle over hearts and minds. On Sunday, we suffered a major setback in that battle when the President of the United States vetoed legislation that would unequivocally state to the world that we do not condone torture in any form, in any place, under any circumstance. Instead, by appearing to abandon the rule of law by appearing to step away from the Geneva Conventions, by failing to renounce the use of torture in the clearest of terms, we are only undermining our standing in the world and endangering the lives of our very own men and women. When the Attorney General of the United States recently testified before the Judiciary Committee, he could not tell us if and when waterboarding constituted torture. He even suggested that a determination whether something constitutes torture depends on who is being subjected to the technique and the desirability of the information that is being sought. His testimony was murky. It was ambiguous. It failed to establish any bright line for our personnel or for the rest of the world. He could only say that if it were done to him, well, then that would be torture.”