On the recordFebruary 3, 2011
Madam President, it is very apparent that President Mubarak must step down. The longer he waits to realize he has to step down, the more difficult it is going to be in order to have an orderly transition and to keep the peace in Egypt. The longer he waits to announce he is stepping down immediately, the more difficult it is to transfer power to his Vice President, General Omar Suleiman. If he had done this several days ago, then that transition would have been so much easier because General Suleiman is well respected in Egypt, certainly by the military. He is well respected by the Arab neighbors in the region, and he is well respected in Israel, as well as the United States. But every day there is violence and bloodshed in these clashes, it makes the Arab street much more difficult to accept any semblance of authority that would come from Mubarak, even though, under the Egyptian Constitution, there is a Vice President, albeit that Vice Presidency has been vacant for years and years and years. But, nevertheless, there is a Vice President who is in the constitutional line of succession to become President.…





