Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Frankel and Wagner for their leadership in bringing this measure forward. The treatment of women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia, their unjust imprisonment, is a serious problem. Since May 2018, the Government of Saudi Arabia has arrested prominent women's rights activists and imposed travel bans on numerous others. Many of them are longtime supporters of ending the ban on a woman driving and abolishing the male guardianship system. At least 10 women's rights activists have been subjected to psychological and physical abuse, including sexual violence, beatings, electric shocks, and sleep deprivation. The State Department reported, in 2018: ``Women continued to face significant discrimination under law and custom, and many remain uninformed about their rights,'' and ``women also face discrimination in courts where, in the most cases, the testimony of one man equals that of two women.'' Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia temporarily released four women activists. This is a step in the right direction, but not nearly enough. Mr. Speaker, American foreign policy is at its best when we put our values at the center of everything we do, and when a partner country like Saudi Arabia tramples on human rights, it is incumbent on us to speak out just as we would do with respect to a nation hostile to the United States. With this resolution, we are sending a clear message.…”