The Public Record
Ben Cardin is a United States Senator from Maryland, serving since January 4, 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he has focused on issues such as healthcare, education, and civil rights throughout his political career. Prior to his tenure in the Senate, Cardin served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 1987, to January 3, 2007, where he was known for his work on tax policy and social security reform.
on Tuesday evening, President Obama, in his State of the Union Address, made the point that America must be the land of opportunity for all. He acknowledged, quite frankly, that for many families in this country the American dream is just…
We will certainly miss your incredible leadership on this committee in bringing Democrats and Republicans together as we should.
Why are we interested in making this type of information available to a country that abuses the rights of its own citizens?
The basic protection of human rights should always be at the table in U.S. negotiations.
It would be my intention, when we consider a 123 agreement on Vietnam, to move a parallel resolution on human rights.
I find that very disappointing. I think, as I pointed out before, there is mutual benefit.
I want to know what you are doing to enhance the change in Vietnam and other countries on basic internationally recognized human rights protections.
We do not always have hearings that are this--Senator Hatch, I know you are always respectful, but sometimes there is a little bit more disagreement than we have here today.
It is going to be a challenging commitment, and we look forward to continuing to work with you, but in a different capacity.
We are not doing a country any favors if we are participating in just feeding a corrupt regime.
I think it is important that we have a clear role that we play with the administration during trade agreements.
The Clean Air Act is critically important and you have a responsibility to carry out that law.
This is a good first step, this hearing on Trade Promotion Authority, but we do need to hear from the administration, and we need to have them here.
I will point out that we heard similar arguments when the United States took the leadership to use trade to bring down the Apartheid government in South Africa.
There was strong resistance for us dealing with labor and environment within a trade agreement, Mr. Chairman, and we finally got that changed.
They will have on their law books crimes that under international standards should not be crimes, but people just expressing their peaceful disagreements with government and they should be able to do that.
national security very much depends upon stable regimes respecting human rights, and that we need to be more open about that and making that more of a priority.
We are delegating our authority. We have the authority, and we are giving up our rights to be able to make specific changes.
Clearly the American people want clean air. And clearly the American people want a clean environment.
The Committee on the Consolidation of the FBI... is one that we will want to be a clear example of what we can do to reduce carbon emissions.
Our greatest hope is that you reach a comprehensive agreement that prevents Iran from having a breakout capacity for a nuclear weapon.
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