Political Quotes

“I just remark how quickly you have risen in the Senate. So we welcome you here. I rise today in support of Tony Blinken's nomination to be Secretary of State. I want to thank Senator Risch for working with me expeditiously to get this nomination to the floor, and I appreciate his work and common cause to achieve it. We all know Mr. Blinken has impressive credentials. He was confirmed by the Senate as Deputy Secretary of State, and before that, he served as the Deputy National Security Advisor and as the staff director at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But apart from his extensive experience, he showed in almost 5 hours of hearing testimony that he is thoughtful, willing, able to grapple with the most complex challenging issues facing our country, and committed to engaging Congress, and he did so on both sides of the aisle. Not surprisingly, the Foreign Relations Committee reported him out by an overwhelming bipartisan vote. Now, some in this body may not be aware of Mr. Blinken's family tradition, which reflects the best of this country in two ways: our history of welcoming those in need of refuge and the contributions that immigrants and refugees have made in the service of our Nation. Mr. Blinken's family came here fleeing persecution. His grandfather, Maurice Blinken, fled Russian pogroms. His father's wife, Vera Blinken, fled communist Hungary, and his late stepfather, Samuel Pisar, survived Nazi concentration camps and met the first U.S.…”