Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for his leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor. Madam Speaker, I pay special tribute to Congresswoman Chu, the chair of the caucus in the House that represents the Asian Pacific American community, and Pramila Jayapal, a member of the Judiciary Committee, instrumental in bringing this legislation as well, the NO BAN Act, and, again, the right to counsel legislation. As I was thinking of this legislation today--I have a statement for the record, but I was thinking back to the ``rump'' hearing that we had under the leadership of the Judiciary Committee at the time the NO BAN was announced. The distinguished chair, Ms. Chu, talked about how people reacted at the airports and the rest--among them, John Lewis--going to the airport. But at this hearing, it was so remarkable, because people turned out. Diplomats showed up and spoke for their colleagues who were still in the diplomatic service, saying how wrong this was. They took professional risk as members of our diplomatic corps. There were around a thousand of them who signed a statement opposing this ban. The military was there, our men and women in uniform. They were there saying: You are hurting us. We have made promises to interpreters and others who have helped us in Iraq and Afghanistan--they were Muslim-- and now they can't come to the United States? It is wrong on its face, but we are not even keeping our word. Who will trust us?…”