Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank Senator Lankford. I went to Turkey when I was speaker of the house in North Carolina and led a delegation there about 7 years ago, spent 9 days, met with business leaders, and met with President Erdogan. I came away with a great deal of optimism--as a matter of fact, so much optimism, I hosted a delegation from the mayor of Kayseri, who is now a Minister in the Turkish Government, to talk about how North Carolina and Turkey could build stronger economic ties. We both have textile and furniture industries. It looked like a great opportunity, but, as Senator Lankford said, the Turkey of today bears no resemblance to the Turkey I visited about 7 years ago, to the Turkey I visited just a few weeks ago. I would like to be talking about how we help Turkey take the fight to terrorist organizations threatening their homeland. I would like to work more with Turkey, as we have this week, to identify ISIS leaders, detain them, and make that region safer. I would like to be a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee-- and sit right next to Senator Sullivan--fighting for additional NDAA provisions that underscore our commitment to our NATO ally in Turkey, but now I am at a fork in the road, and right now I only have one position to take; that is, to put Turkey on notice for their bad actions as a NATO ally and for their bad actions toward American nationals in the country of Turkey. So I am with Senator Lankford, Senator Shaheen, and other Senators.…”