On the recordFebruary 9, 2011
I was going to talk about jobs, but I think in light of the last address on the other side of the aisle, I will talk a bit about foreign policy and specifically Egypt. There is a quote in a play by Samuel Beckett. It's called ``Waiting for Godot.'' The quote, though, is applicable. It says something to the effect that, at this time, in this place, at this very moment in time, all mankind is us. And in many ways, Mr. Speaker, all mankind should be with the Egyptian people. Now, it's quite true that the Egyptian people are not supportive of America's foreign policy, at least Washington's foreign policy, but they are certainly supportive of America's fundamental values. And, in fact, that's what motivates this revolution. This protest was not started by the Muslim Brotherhood, who may, at most, be 20 percent of the Egyptian people and have forsworn violence, and, in fact, al Qaeda's second in command has issued any number of critical statements of the Brotherhood. That's not who is leading this. They may be jumping in now to take some advantage of it. But this was led by young, well-educated men and women very similar in motivation to those that led the American Revolution. For the most part, these are folks much like the Google executive who yesterday explained that he could well lead a life of leisure. He was making a good income. His needs were being met. He had a nice apartment. But he didn't have his dignity.
