Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of S. 2318, the Department of State Rewards Program Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012. This bipartisan bill is Senator Kerry's Senate companion to H.R. 4077, the House bill introduced 2 months prior by my good friend from California (Mr. Royce). Since the 1980s, the State Department has had authority to offer rewards leading to the arrests and convictions for international narcotics trafficking, acts of terrorism, and war crimes. These reward programs have proven to be effective tools for disrupting and dismantling terrorist cells and drug cartels around the world, enjoying both high-profile and quiet successes in locating many dangerous individuals, including Ramzi Yousef, one of the perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center attack, Saddam Hussein's sons, and narcotrafficking commanders of the FARC in Colombia. This bill is a critical tool in our ongoing efforts to locate Joseph Kony, the murderous head of the predatory Lord's Resistance Army, LRA, in Central Africa. This bill is a responsible, bipartisan bill that will significantly enhance our ability to fight transnational organized crime and grave human rights abuses. I urge unanimous support. I reserve the balance of my time.”