Political Quotes

“It is true it is a political appointment, but to the Republic of South Korea. At a time when we are facing challenges in the South China Sea, where there is a dispute between China and Korea, where we have critical interests, where we are dealing with North Korea, we can't have an Ambassador to South Korea? Let me just say that I could go through a list of critical countries. And it is pretty amazing to me. I have some of my colleagues who have come to the floor to talk about national security. Well, national security isn't only about having a trigger and a gun. National security is also about having an ambassador in a country to ultimately press our case and our concerns as it relates to our bilateral relationship with that country. So places like Russia, which was objected to, places like South Korea, places like Guatemala, where we are having the crisis, and a whole bunch of African countries that were in the career list--we are going to have the African leader come here next Monday and Tuesday, but we are not going to have ambassadors to a whole bunch of their countries--career ambassadors to a whole bunch of their countries. That is not in the national interests and security of the United States.…”