On the recordMarch 14, 2011
I just want to conclude by saying this: In our history in this country we have, again, been quite fortunate, and it may be that--as a friend of mine said to me, it is hard for people to imagine themselves in a position where they would need to be rescued from danger, from death. Senator McCain cited some of the episodes, dark times in recent history, where people needed that help from outside--the Holocaust, Srebenica, the Balkans, Rwanda. We acted. This is of that same type. But when we think about Japan, there is this parallel to the United States. There have been natural disasters in this country--earthquakes, hurricanes. Katrina is an example. When the people of the gulf coast region pleaded with us, the central government, the National Government, the Federal Government, for help, we gave it to them. I will never forget what the Coast Guard did in rescuing lives on the gulf coast after Katrina. In some ways I think we have to perhaps see it as a manmade disaster, as a natural disaster. It is a basic rescue. In this case they are not asking us to fight their fight. They are asking us to leave them the weapons, the cover, so that they can fight their fight.
