Political Quotes

“I thank Chairman Royce very much for his help on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I am here to speak in support of the War Crimes Rewards Expansion Act, introduced by my good friend Eliot Engel and me. It is another excellent example today of bipartisanship here in the House. As Chairman Royce said, this bill expands and reforms the War Crimes Rewards Program, which provides bounties for perpetrators of the world's worst human rights abusers. The current program authorizes these rewards only for the purposes of prosecutions in international tribunals. While experts can attest to the necessity of international tribunals or mixed court tribunals in limited circumstances, the program fails to offer the same advantages and incentives to prosecutions in national jurisdictions using national courts. There is already broad consensus that prosecuting perpetrators of atrocities like the genocide that plagues religious minorities at the hands of ISIS has the greatest impact when the prosecutions are conducted within the society in which the crimes occurred. When governments can keep these prosecutions within national jurisdictions, witnesses have easier access to courts, public awareness of these brutal atrocities is maximized, and parties will more likely understand domestic laws. Furthermore, domestic trials are often cheaper, quicker, and less resource intensive, meaning more resources can be devoted to items like discovery and analysis.…”