Political Quotes

“Members of the House, the African National Congress is a rare example of an oppressed people fighting for their freedom and then leading a successful and peaceful transition to a modern nation. The fight went on for years, underground and in exile, against the morally bankrupt apartheid system in South Africa. And once they prevailed, their response to gaining political power was not retribution and reprisals, but truth and reconciliation. Notwithstanding this peaceful transition, the United States had not gotten around to giving ANC leaders the opportunity to enter this country because certain provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act currently require us to consider them still as terrorists. After the attacks on 9/11, Congress sought to exclude and remove terrorists from the United States by strengthening the terrorism bars in our immigration laws. In doing so, however, we inadvertently covered groups and individuals whom we did not intend to, including allies and even victims of terrorism.”