Political Quotes

“Madam Chairman, I thank my good friend, the new chairman of our Foreign Affairs Committee, Howard Berman. He has got a tough act to follow, because we all loved Tom Lantos. The gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) had a hard act to follow, but, boy, did he fill those big shoes very well. This has been your first trial by fire, and you came out looking so well because you accommodated the concerns and the anxieties and the worries that so many of our Members had. I want to thank on a bipartisan level all of the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, from the most conservative to the most liberal. We were able to forge a compromise that reached a broad consensus on this vital and complex legislation. The foundation of this bill, as Chairman Berman has pointed out, is the 2003 Leadership Act, which was the first comprehensive U.S. emergency response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and which stands as a noble legacy of our two former chairmen, Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos. They understood, as do all of us, that millions of lives around the world depend on our country's willingness to battle this pandemic together. It does honor to our country that 5 years ago we undertook this true mission of mercy.”