Does one really think, given that the personnel of this electoral commission that were responsible for this charade in front of us, that we should expect the people of the Congo to rely upon them and have faith in anything they do?

this assessment does not propose the final order of candidates necessarily different than announced by the CENI, only that the results process is not credible.

The United States must dramatically ratchet up its efforts to find a way to defuse this crisis and find a way forward that respects and honors the democratic aspirations of the Congolese people.

We blame everybody else and we give a free ride to the Government of DRC. That is not the kind of policymaking that the Congolese people want.

as the good Senator from Illinois suggests, we are, indeed, encumbering future generations with a debt that has risen above $40,000 per American. This is a central challenge of our time, one in which our national security leadership has…

how much time remains? The PRESIDING OFFICER. On the Senator's side, 2 minutes 20 seconds; on the side of the Senator from Illinois, 1 minute 16 seconds.

I rise to share a feeling that many in my home State have expressed to me. I rise to share my frustration. It is not just the frustration you may feel, as I have felt presiding over this body, when for hours at a time it is empty, when…

I hope that the United States will take an active and engaged role in convening the international community.

But the fundamental issue is independent international verification and with the purpose, as I said earlier, of enfranchising those who were disenfranchised in order to try and move to a position that you do know who won the election.

I would like to follow up, if I might, on that same line of questioning.

the elections were deficient. The CENI did not meet internationally accepted standards in the vote counting process.

Thank you, Assistant Secretary Carson.