On the recordDecember 7, 2010
Let me first suggest that I am honored to be here in the presence of Chris Smith, who has done so much, and Speaker Pelosi, who over the years, over these last two decades while I have been in Congress, have proven to me over and over again that they are the type of moral and honest people that I emulate and would seek to strive to meet your standards. So thank you very much for the leadership both of you have shown, and nowhere is that more evident than when it comes to our relations with China. I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1717, which urges President Obama to work for the release of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, as well as the release of all the heroic signers of Charter 08. They are now in detention and house arrest for being so courageous to put their name on a democratic document. There is nothing so low in the arena of global politics as officials of a regime who order the arrest and imprisonment of a Nobel Prize winner. Such oppressors deserve a prize of their own, a prize for arrogance and brutality. This year's prize would then go again to the Chinese leadership, who have awarded themselves this prize of infamy. More perplexing than gangsters acting like gangsters are American Government officials who insist on treating the communist dictatorship as if it is morally equivalent to democratic government, thus worthy of respect, of trust and cooperation.
