Barney Frank: “I want to say that to say that you are sorry that the East Timor situation is a victim of dilatory tactics seems to me…”

“I want to say that to say that you are sorry that the East Timor situation is a victim of dilatory tactics seems to me an example of the kind of disproportion we can get into. We are talking about repression. Hurt feelings between ourselves should not get in the way of our being able to deal with repression. The amendment that I offered... I do not think another 20 minutes to allow us to deal with the horrible situation of repression in East Timor would have been a problem. To say to them, 'Sorry, you don't count because we're mad about dilatory tactics and we can't spare you 20 minutes,' I think degrades the process.”