Political Quotes

“much of the world's recent attention has understandably been on the Middle East--and of course this week on the terrible situation with one of America's closest allies--Japan. I understand that USAID has sent disaster relief teams to help in the earthquake and tsunami devastated cities and that the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan is off the coast to help with relief operations. Events there are truly heartbreaking and we stand in solidarity with our Japanese friends during this time of continued crisis and rebuilding. Amid these major global events I want to make sure we don't lose sight of the continuing political repression in the last dictatorship of Europe--Belarus. You see, despite the transformations that swept through eastern and central Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus remains stuck in time under the tyranny of Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for most of the last two decades. Lukashenko's security forces that help prop up his illegitimate regime are actually still called the KGB--and they have the same despicable tactics as the old Soviet KGB. Under Lukashenko's regime, those who dare to speak up against the government or attempt to participate in any semblance of democratic activity find themselves arrested, beaten, or worse. In December, six of the seven candidates who chose to run against Lukashenko were arrested on election day when protesting the sham electoral process.…”