Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, recently, when the President traveled to Africa, of course one of the most important stops on that trip was South Africa, where we had an opportunity not only to see and talk with Nelson Mandela, but of course young Thabo Mbeki and others who were involved in the anti-apartheid movement. One of the most interesting things about the conversation and the proceedings involving the President of the United States and Nelson Mandela was Nelson Mandela's ability to talk straight talk to the President. There was discussion about the Africa trade bill, and Nelson Mandela was able to raise the kinds of questions that many leaders would not have been able to raise. Easily, and I think as we watched him in the way that he did that, we all concluded that Nelson Mandela had earned the right to ask anybody any questions he would like to ask them, to reserve the right to disagree and to reserve the right to give advice and to talk in ways that very few people get to do on the international stage.”