Donald M. Payne: “Let me conclude by once again thanking the sponsor of this very important resolution. I think it's been said very…”

“Let me conclude by once again thanking the sponsor of this very important resolution. I think it's been said very clearly that when people stand up, we can defeat tyranny. I compliment the dock workers who refused to unload the ship. As has been mentioned, the solidarity movement in Poland led to democracy there. And actually, back in the sixties, there was an incident during the height of the Cold War where the dock workers of Newark refused to unload a ship of furs from the Soviet Union. At that time, Krushchev said they were going to bury the U.S., and the ILA and the dock workers refused to unload that ship, once again showing solidarity. As a person who worked on the docks of Newark for 4 years during my early career, I certainly appreciate the strength of the dock workers and the labor unions and ILA from around the world. I think we have to work on proliferation of conventional weapons that we see throughout the world. I think we have to really monitor and rein in the People's Republic of China that continues to support the brutal regime in Sudan with the atrocities in Darfur. We have to say that if we are going to be a country living in the community of world nations, then there is a responsibility to act responsibly in this new millennium. And so with that, I urge the passage of House Resolution 1270.”