Robert Torricelli: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. There is not a Member of this House in their own lives that did not look in their…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. There is not a Member of this House in their own lives that did not look in their parents' eyes and say, tell me about the holocaust. Tell me why it is the world sat silent. There is not a Member of this House who does not remember during the carnage in Cambodia, how we said to ourselves, we wish that there was something we could have done. But it just was not to be. This debate is about many things. But, more than anything, it is about this: What are you, my friends, going to say to your children and their children's children, when they say to you, where was America? When the villages were razed, women were raped, a Moslem people were subjected to genocide? Where were you, America? With those in Europe who would argue the legal restrictions, the need to stand together, or with the victims, where America always is when America is right? The compelling logic of the Moslem people is overwhelming. What is it they want? They want to survive. They are not asking for our blood or our lives. They want to fight to defend their own families. I know it is a change of policy. What could be more of a compelling argument for this amendment? The policy has failed. And this legislative body at its best, if it is honest with itself, will stand apart and say it was tried.”