Political Quotes

John Kerry: The Senator is correct, that is the language that was used, but it is preamble language. It is in the preamble. It has…

On the recordMay 21, 2002
The Senator is correct, that is the language that was used, but it is preamble language. It is in the preamble. It has no teeth. There is no substance to it. What I am trying to do is guarantee in each of these categories that there are teeth, there is substance in the law that, in fact, guarantees you will not have those greater rights because still all of this is subject to the international panel's application of standards; they ultimately will decide. Unless we establish some standard by which to measure it, that is literally a statement without any enforcement mechanism whatsoever. I reserve the remainder of my time.
Said by
John Kerry
Democratic · Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the effectiveness of legal language in a legislative proposal.

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