Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, let me say, first of all, that the Iranian regime is a bad regime. They hold American prisoners before we paid them the money, and they will hold prisoners after. It has no basis whatsoever. It is easy to put out the word ``ransom,'' but this was not a ransom. It is a reprehensible regime. They do reprehensible things. The United States fulfills its obligations. Again, the Algiers Accords, by the logic that this should not have been done, then when George H.W. Bush did it, it shouldn't have been done; when Ronald Reagan did it, it shouldn't have been done. They did it because we maintain our obligations in the United States. So any of us can get up and give a litany of things we don't like about the Iranian Government. Believe me, I take second to none when it comes to that. But the United States needs to fulfill its obligations, and the Iranian regime needs to be checked. But it is not a ransom, and that is just the problem. By calling it a ransom, by calling names, by trying to poke a finger in front of the eyes of the administration, we don't get to the real issue. The real issue, which I hope we will get to later, is, again, to give Congress notice before this happens. That is the issue. To just say ransom and throw that word out, anybody can do that; but this wasn't a ransom.…”