Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Leahy for allowing the creation of this new subcommittee in Judiciary that is known as Human Rights and the Law. It is the first time in the 218-year history of the Senate such a committee has been designated, and I am honored to serve as its chair. After our first hearing on genocide in Darfur, we decided it was time to close the legal loopholes that prevent the U.S. Justice Department from prosecuting people in our country who have committed genocide. This legislation is a result of our first hearing. We heard about these gaps in the law and found them hard to believe. Unlike the laws of torture, piracy, material support for terrorism, terrorism financing, hostage taking, and many other Federal crimes, laws related to genocide do not allow the arrest and prosecution in the United States of people who are not U.S. citizens, or who have not committed the act of genocide in our Nation. Of course, those are few and far between. There is no reason to treat genocide, perhaps the worst crime known to humanity, differently than any of these crimes.”