Political Quotes

“In response to my colleague's questions, I would agree with him. That is one of the problems with this. It is so uneven in its application, and as such one might argue that the effectiveness of it is thereby debilitating--that, if we are going to certify some, and waive others where the problem arguably is the same, although one might make a case that there are various efforts in certain countries, I think you end up with the kind of situation we are in today where the desire for cooperation and the efforts of cooperation have been severely curtailed as a result of it. So even if you are trying to send a message here, it gets lost in the process. I note in the case of Colombia-- which is certainly a major source country problem without any question whatsoever--but I pointed out, as I know my colleague from Arizona has from time to time, that this has paralyzed the country of Colombia. Many may recall that a number of years ago the entire supreme court of that country was assassinated. One attorney general after the other, the chief prosecutor, all of these people have been assassinated. Presidential candidates get assassinated. One might argue that they are paying an awful price in that nation. If we decertify, we lose any kind of cooperation in terms of what we ought to be trying to seek there.”