Political Quotes

“Madam President, I join with Senator Wyden in my deep disappointment that the Republicans have objected to the continuation of a policy that has voluntarily been done for 40 years; that is, those who are running for President of the United States release their tax returns. I want to underscore a couple of points that were made by Senator Wyden. I thank him very much for his leadership on this issue. I just came from a hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--where I have the privilege of being the ranking Democrat--on Afghanistan. A large part of that hearing dealt with transparency, good governance, corruption, and anti-corruption. That is a key fundamental for Afghans' success. This morning I also had a chance to meet with the new leader of Burma. She has tremendous challenges in that emerging country. Transparency and anti-corruption are critically important to the success of that democracy. When the United States stands internationally for good governance, anti-corruption, and transparency, we first have to deal with our issues at home. It is hard for us to demand transparency globally when we ourselves fall victim to the failure to make information available to the public that they desperately need. Let me tell you why that is important. This is not theoretical. The Panama Papers indicate that heads of state--current heads of state and former heads of state--have used ways to avoid public disclosure of the gains of their office, the connections they have had.…”