Political Quotes

“What extraordinary symmetry, what exceptional justice this evening that we consider the nomination of Pete Peterson to be our first Ambassador to Vietnam. Thirty-one years ago as an Air Force pilot, Pete Peterson was flying his 67th combat mission over Vietnam when his plane was shot down. He told me the story when we were colleagues in the House of Representatives. I will not forget that as long as I live, what he went through as that plane came crashing down and he was parachuting out, with broken bones and beaten up, run through the streets by the crowds and pushed into a prison cell, and then to spend 6 years--6 years--of his life as a prisoner of war, to come home finally in 1973 with all of the deserved tribute for his service to his country, to return to his home State of Florida and his family finally and then decide once again to make a commitment to this Nation and to run and serve in the House of Representatives and after three terms to be designated by the President of the United States, President Clinton, to be America's first Ambassador to Vietnam, the same country where his plane had crashed and where he had been a prisoner of war for so many years. I say to my colleague, the Senator from Nebraska, who really said it so well, the quiet dignity of Pete Peterson will bring a lot to this job, the kind of stature which we need in those who speak for the United States.”