Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I also rise in support of this resolution, and I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for providing us with this timely opportunity to recognize the work of the Community of Democracies. Next month will mark the anniversary of the founding of that intergovernmental organization 10 years ago in Warsaw, Poland. Unlike the United Nations, the governmental participants in the Community of Democracies are not distinguished merely by the fact that they hold power in a country. They are bound by their commitments to the core democratic principles set out in the Warsaw Declaration, including, among others: the right of citizens to choose their governments through regular, free, and fair elections; freedom of opinion; freedom of expression; freedom of conscience; freedom of religion; freedom of peaceful assembly; freedom of association; the right to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention; and the importance of a competent, independent, and impartial judiciary. Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, as outlined in the Seoul ministerial meeting in 2002, the Community has developed criteria and procedures to help ensure that only practicing democracies are participants. Maintaining those standards is critical, as they give the Community a moral authority and a substantive voice that is so badly needed in today's world.…”