Mark Souder: “I first want to praise the gentleman for his continuing efforts in this often, and previously, ignored region of the…”

“I first want to praise the gentleman for his continuing efforts in this often, and previously, ignored region of the world. He has been an expert in Russia for a long time. I believe he said 33 different trips to Russia, someone who is a familiar face there, who will go nose to nose with the Russians, and at the same time the Russians know he will be back again and again and again. He is our friend while he is also arguing with us. I have watched the gentleman practice that in tough negotiations with Russia and prepare himself for the other types of things that he has been working with in this troubled region of the world. He has spent time in the Ukraine, in Georgia. His commitment to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and the so-called ``Stans'' was there long before we had the focus in the recent post-9/11 issues. The gentleman was interested in this for a long time since the Republicans came into control in Congress and even before that in his career. His efforts in North Korea. He has been in the world hot spots before they were known as the world hot spots; therefore, the particular trip that we were able to do, as the gentleman has explained tonight, we cannot overstate the gentleman's role and the connections and how these things are connected. Because the gentleman is involved in the energy, he got to know Mohammar Khadafi's son, who would enable us to get into places we were never able to get in and help facilitate the breakthrough that we are having in Libya.”