On the recordJune 20, 2012
there is an important distinction here. If you are going to provide humanitarian assistance in some circumstance, and the administration made good on its promise to do that, it is hard to separate it from the events as they are going forward that you do not control. No matter who is President, the Senate should not tie the hands of any President with respect to this policy. Ronald Reagan said it best when he said very clearly that ``a hungry child knows no politics.'' That was Ronald Reagan's policy. That is the policy of churches all across our country. The fact is that if the Kyl amendment were to pass, you will have tied the hands of any President on a sensitive national security issue where the President deserves that kind of flexibility. Without a national interest waiver, you lock into place a prohibition in North Korea. What happens if suddenly you had a change, as in Burma? You would be locked in and unable to respond to it. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
