Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for yielding and I commend him and Ranking Member, soon-to-be Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for giving us this opportunity to address the resolution presented by our chairwoman, Congresswoman Nita Lowey, who chairs the Foreign Ops subcommittee. All of you on Foreign Affairs and on Foreign Ops in appropriations know full well the magnitude of the leader that Richard Holbrooke was. As I address some personal remarks about him, I want to say how significant it was that he understood the important role that Congress plays in our foreign policy, whether it was as the Ambassador to the United Nations, whether it was in his work forging a peace agreement, the Dayton Accords, or whether it was in his role now as Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He would come to Capitol Hill bringing his tremendous and brilliant mind, his great intellect, his boundless energy, and his sense of humor. He had a tenacity about him that was unsurpassed. His determination was palpable. You could see it in the air. When he addressed an issue, you knew that a solution would be found and he, indeed, worked very, very hard in all that he did; but he also brought, as I say, a brilliant, great intellect. With the passing of Ambassador Holbrooke, our country has lost a brilliant and respected diplomat.…”