Lateefah Simon: “I hope my colleague from Georgia will think about deferring this amendment until we get to the foreign ops bill after…”

“I hope my colleague from Georgia will think about deferring this amendment until we get to the foreign ops bill after the election. This is an emotional issue in Russia. You can argue that it should not be an emotional issue, but the people in Russia were told year after year after year by the propaganda machine that NATO represents a military threat, and even though the Soviet dictatorial apparatus is gone, that fear of NATO is there. It is an emotional issue in Russia. For those who say, ``Well, emotions shouldn't govern decisions on foreign relations,'' take a look at--and I know many of my colleagues will disagree with me on this--take a look at what the United States is doing vis-a-vis Cuba.”