Political Quotes

“I rise to build on something that Chairman Boxer just said about the national security implications of the global warming problem. Last week I had the privilege to attend an Asian-Pacific Security Conference in Singapore, which is called the ``Shangri-la Dialogue.'' At that conference, there were high-ranking defense officials from just about every country in the Asian-Pacific region, large or small. I noticed on the schedule of meetings there was a session on climate change. So this intrigued me because, again, this was a defense group, an international security group. I went to the conference, and it was quite something. Our friends in the Asian-Pacific region are deeply concerned about the possible consequences of global warming and anxious that the world unite to protect them and us from the worst of it. A gentleman leader in the Defense Department of Singapore said they have begun to negotiate with European experts in the construction of dikes, because they think if they can build adequate dikes, they can probably withstand a rising sea level which they believe will happen--probably will happen, according to the best science--of a meter. But if the water rises above a meter, their leaders have concluded that as much as a third of Singapore could be under water.”