Political Quotes

“Reserving the right to object, I believe that we may have this worked out so there may not be an objection, but I just want to say a few words before I proceed with this unanimous consent request. As the gentleman from Missouri said, he was on the floor of the Senate last week proposing a Senate resolution condemning the actions of China with respect to Hong Kong. I said then and I say again now, I fully agree with his assessment. What the Government of China is doing in Hong Kong is unacceptable. They are taking away the rights of the people in Hong Kong. They are snuffing out the freedoms that exist there right now. Since we were on the floor last week, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress reportedly reviewed an initial draft of the national security law, which has not been released. So even in this last week, they are moving forward in their process to take away the liberties of the people of Hong Kong. Time is of the essence. What I said on the floor last week and what I will say again today is that passage of a Senate resolution is not going to deter the actions of the Government of China. It is a statement. It is an important statement by the Senate. But to believe that the Government of China will be deterred one wit in moving forward on the path that it is on to take away the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong is to not be even paying attention to what is happening in Beijing.…”