Roy Blunt: “I rise today to talk about President Obama's speech today on the support of the Arab spring, at least what we are…”

“I rise today to talk about President Obama's speech today on the support of the Arab spring, at least what we are calling the Arab spring. I believe and hope, as many of my colleagues do, that it is in the best interests of the United States to advance freedom in the Middle East. Supporting free people and democratic governments has always guided American foreign policy. Lending our support to people who yearn for freedom is really part of our national DNA. Doing so in a practical and pragmatic way within the context of regional stability is imperative to our own national security. In recent weeks I have been very supportive of the President's actions as they related to Osama bin Laden and the decisions that were made there. In recent months I thought the President has been a little unsteady in advancing the principles I mentioned earlier. He demonstrated uncertainty in dealing with President Mubarak before withdrawing his support and, if I can say so, withdrawing his support suddenly. After hesitating for several weeks and allowing Mr. Qaddafi to regroup, we then authorized U.S. participation in a NATO air operation with a confusing mission that does not have the kind of U.S. leadership that it might have benefited from. Then in Syria we stood on the sidelines for weeks while terrible things happened to profreedom demonstrators before we finally announced a series of sanctions just this week.…”