Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to Robert ``Bob'' Hand as he retires this week after 40 years of faithful service to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission. The Commission is an independent U.S. Government agency Congress created in 1975 to monitor and encourage compliance with the Helsinki Final Act and other commitments undertaken since then by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. The Commission consists of nine members from the House of Representatives, nine members from the U.S. Senate, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce. The House and Senate share the positions of chair and cochair and rotate every 2 years, when a new Congress convenes. For the Commission to function, it relies on expert professional staff who must be as nonpartisan as they are expert in their fields. I am, during this 117th Congress, the chair of the Helsinki Commission, though for these remarks it is important to note that I have served on the Commission since the 103rd Congress, dating back to my time in the House of Representatives. When I joined the Commission in 1993, as the several Balkan Wars were unfolding in the former Yugoslavia, Bob Hand was already the go-to person on Capitol Hill for news and information--and explanations--of what was happening in the Western Balkans. I have worked with Bob for 29 years now. I have relied on him for 29 years.…”