Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak on a matter of great importance to the foreign policy of this country: our relationship with Russia and the efficacy of international sanctions to achieve our international security goals. The reports of the past 24 hours are extremely troubling. But one thing we now all agree on is that Russia is behind the hacking of our election, as even the President-elect has now just said. This makes it even more important that we not only keep the existing sanctions in place but that we institute a new, tough sanctions regime in response so Russia can't get away with what they did and other countries will know as well that they will suffer penalty if they try to interfere with our elections. Unfortunately, this morning's Cabinet hearing on Mr. Tillerson's nomination is a very troubling sign of things to come. In one breath, Mr. Tillerson said that the invasion of Crimea is a violation of international law, and in the next, amazingly enough, he declined to commit to maintaining the existing sanctions regime against Russia. He said he wants to get classified briefings first and then consult with the President-elect. But I remind the country, as my friend the Senator from Florida, Mr. Rubio, from across the aisle, did, that these sanctions are a result of past crimes. We don't need a classified briefing to know what Russia has done in the past.…”