Dick Durbin: “I also wish to say a word about Secretary Kerry, who has been working night and day since he left the Senate, as…”

“I also wish to say a word about Secretary Kerry, who has been working night and day since he left the Senate, as Secretary of State, and he testified yesterday. I know what he is trying to achieve. I salute him for that and of course the President as well. Let me hope that one thing emerges from this. I remember serving in the House of Representatives, and we voted on the invasion of Kuwait under President George H.W. Bush. I had my questions about that. I voted no. The House voted yes to go forward with that foreign policy. The Speaker of the House, Tom Foley, if I am not mistaken, followed that vote, where we decided to go forward with the invasion of Kuwait, with a resolution saying that now the foreign policy had been decided by this country, we should stand together in a bipartisan fashion to support our men and women in uniform who were engaged in this conflict. That happened, and we all voted for it--even those of us who disagreed with the policy. Even after this vote on Iraq where 23 of us had voted no, virtually all of us voted for the resources that our military needed. My thinking was: Durbin, even if you disagree with the Iraqi invasion, what if that were your son over there? Wouldn't you want him to have everything he needs to come home safe? You bet.…”