Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it is with great pride that on behalf of the Maryland congressional delegation, I pay tribute to our incredible senior Senator and thank him for his service to our State and our country and, in fact, all he has done around the world. I want to recognize the fact that Steny Hoyer, Congressman Hoyer, is with us on the floor as well. Thank you, Mr. Leader, for being here. For those of you who don't know, when Ben Cardin was speaker of the Maryland House, Steny Hoyer was president of the Maryland Senate, so they have gone way back together. Thank you, Steny, for being here. Colleagues, I think all of us here know Ben Cardin for his many, many achievements and accomplishments and the fact that he is a wonderful colleague to work with. He has gone over some of those major highlights, so I am not going to repeat them all, but I do just want to flag a number of them, because the Magnitsky Act is the legislation that said the United States--it not only says we are going to stand up and protect fighters for human rights around the world, but we are going to create an enforcement mechanism to do exactly that. We had a hearing just the other day in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reviewing that legislation. That legislation would not exist but for the fact that Ben Cardin made it happen--first through the original Sergei Magnitsky Act and then the Global Magnitsky Act--as a champion of human rights.…”