Political Quotes

“I also want to make a brief statement on amendment No. 1264, which is offered on behalf of Senator Hagel, Senator Gregg, Senator Leahy, and myself. It is a very simple amendment. It provides $13 million for the Special Court for Sierra Leone to help make up for a shortfall in international contributions to the Court. While the amendment is simple, it is critically important to promoting the rule of law in Africa; helping advance security and stability in West Africa; and holding accountable some of the worst war criminals of the 20th century. The Special Court was established by the United Nations Security Council with strong U.S. backing. The Court is working, as we speak, to bring to justice those most responsible for the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during wars there in the 1990s. The Court, however, currently has one major piece of unfinished business--Charles Taylor. Although Mr. Taylor has been indicted by the Special Court on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, he continues to live in exile in Nigeria, enjoying the protection of the Nigerian government. What is worse is there are credible reports that Mr. Taylor has repeatedly broken the terms of his agreement with the Nigerian government, continues to meddle in the affairs of Liberia and other West African nations, is involved in a number of activities that threaten to destabilize the region, and has associations with al-Qaida.…”