Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I stand in full support of Judge Poe's bill, H.R. 479, the North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act of 2017. Over the years, as the chairman has said, I have repeatedly and explicitly called for Pyongyang to be redesignated as a state sponsor of terrorism, SST, country. I stood in ardent opposition to the Bush administration's decision to remove North Korea from the SST list, and in the years past, I introduced similar legislation to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), which would see Pyongyang back on the list where it belongs. The removal from the list was a failure of the nuclear negotiations with North Korea, a concession given for nothing but empty promises in return. In much the same way that the Obama administration removed Cuba from the SST list 2 years ago, the Bush administration got empty promises in return for these terrible concessions, while the Obama administration couldn't even get empty promises. These designations are much more important than just tools for negotiation, Mr. Speaker. They are there because these countries actively support terror or they support or facilitate countries that do support terror. They pose a very serious risk to U.S. national security and global stability. This is not something to take lightly, and removing North Korea from the SST list was a very serious error in judgment. It is far past time, Mr.…”