Political Quotes

“20 years ago, a plane carrying Rwanda's president was shot down, unleashing a genocide carried out by the country's dominant Hutu tribe against its Tutsi minority. Hundreds of thousands of people, estimates of the dead range up to 1 million, were killed in a matter of weeks. Many were butchered with machetes, their mutilated bodies left to rot in the African sun. Women were brutally raped. Entire families were slaughtered at once. The goal was simple: to kill every Tutsi in Rwanda. The killing went on for 3 months, wiping out nearly three-fourths of the Tutsi population, until rebel forces toppled the government and took over a deeply traumatized nation. In the two decades since, Rwanda has made remarkable progress in a broad range of economic, health, and social indicators. It has taken on the delicate task of bringing those responsible for the genocide to justice without tearing the country apart. Rwanda's saga, even as we mourn the dead, is ultimately a story of triumph and hope. For us in America and the West, Rwanda stands as mute testimony to our failure to live up to the post-Holocaust promise of ``never again.'' We cannot undo the past, but we can heed the lessons of Rwanda by acting now to prevent genocide in the Central African Republic. Today's U.N. Security Council vote is a first step, and Congress should act by providing resources. I urge us to do so quickly. Lives are on the line. ____________________”