Political Quotes

“as an American citizen and as a Pacific Islander, I must rise today in strong support of the privileged resolution offered by the gentlewoman from Hawaii [Mrs. Mink]. This resolution speaks to the issue of this body's integrity because of President Chirac's behavior, and in order to argue that President Chirac should, in fact, should be disinvited, we must analyze President Chirac's duplicitous and cynical behavior in the conduct of nuclear testing in the South Pacific. A speech before a joint session of Congress is President Chirac's way of trying to win back the good graces of this body and of world opinion and to recover some very lost credibility. After he has ignored world opinion for over 4 months by proceeding with these series of tests, he does not deserve the honor of speaking before this body. Just days prior to their final nuclear test, thousands of miles from the French capital, France acknowledged radioactive waste was leaked, and in fact, frequently vented into the lagoon adjacent to the test site. Of course, this did not stop France from finishing their last test. And now the French President wants this Congress as his audience. With the precedent of inviting someone responsible for a potentially major environmental disaster in the Pacific, you have to wonder who the congressional leadership will invite next.…”