Political Quotes

“I rise in strong support of General Abizaid's confirmation to be our Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It took this administration nearly 2 years to even nominate someone to this critical position, and, unfortunately, we have seen the results of the absence of serious, experienced U.S. leadership. I was pleased that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee expeditiously moved his nomination. In the past 2 years, we have seen Saudi leadership take actions that have seriously strained the U.S.- Saudi relationship and that have run fundamentally counter to basic international norms. Saudi Arabia has detained and reportedly tortured members of its own royal family and has effectively abducted the Lebanese Prime Minister. In Yemen, the Crown Prince's coalition has led an offensive that has been responsible not just for breeding the world's worst humanitarian crisis but also for potentially opening the door to more malign Iranian influence. To this day, we still also seek accountability for the brutal murder of American resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. With the White House's having conducted freelance diplomacy, the American people have had little faith that there has been serious pressure on the Saudi leadership for it to correct course. Worse, we continue to learn that the administration appears to be rewarding the Kingdom with secret side deals in support of its nuclear program--far outside the scope of legally prescribed processes.…”