Political Quotes

“I rise in opposition to the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 35. I am a little perplexed by the Parliamentarian's decision that this can move forward because there is a statutory timeframe that says that the resolution needs to be brought forth in order for it to have validity. My understanding of the Parliamentarian's decision is that even though--if there was passage of this resolution--it would not have validity because it is past the timeframe, it still can be brought. That seems to be a pursuit of the Senate's time in a way that is an extraordinary amount of time on unlimited numbers of discharge resolutions that potentially exist that, having passed the statutory timeframe, can still be brought to the Senate floor even though whatever the vote is has no consequence. I fail to understand that. Since that is the ruling, let me just say that I appreciate that the Senator from Kentucky has concerns about human rights in Egypt, and I agree that we must absolutely continue to raise concerns in a way that will meaningfully bring about positive change. I believe we should be doing more to prioritize a country's human rights record in the context of our broader relationship. In fact, last year, with several of my colleagues, I introduced S. 1473, the Safeguarding Human Rights in Arms Exports Act, or what we call the SAFEGUARD Act, to ensure that human rights issues full attention and arms exports decision making are considered.…”