Eliot Engel

I think of the dauntless Frank Mugisha in Uganda whose colleague was brutally murdered; he continues to stand up for those who want dignity in their lives or the countless others who work under the threat of violence, detention, and…

I was particularly disturbed by the recent murder of LGBT activist Rene Martinez in Honduras.

At the same time, I urge us not to overreact. We must not close our borders or turn inward.

Given these findings and turning back to Orlando and its global legacy, I believe our country and our allies must not underreact or overreact, and we must not confuse the difference between the two.

I would like to argue here today that targeted LGBT violence and anti-LGBT propaganda in general challenge fundamental democratic values and pluralistic societies everywhere.

Basic rights and human dignity are at the core of American values. No person should endure violence or discrimination just because of where they live, how they worship, or who they love.

I want to welcome you personally to the Foreign Affairs Committee.

I want to commend our colleague, Mr. Cicilline of Rhode Island, for his eloquent statement.

It is just always a fight.

We have seen a troubling trend in recent years.

Enable a military team to be mobilized, not just overseas, but also to respond to a mass casualty event like the one we have just experienced in Orlando.

I found the portions of your testimony concerning trauma activation fees very alarming.

The state of our trauma system is I think something that most of us have likely given relatively limited thought to until a personal national tragedy brings it to the forefront.

I would like to start out by saying thank you to all the healthcare professionals present today who have dedicated their lives to caring for those in trauma situations. Your work is truly lifesaving.

Even one prisoner escaping is one prisoner too much. So we are not going to say that anything is foolproof.

I say it is more rigorous because as Lee said, there's a broader group of career professionals and some political but primarily career professionals, intelligence folks, career prosecutors, who looked at these cases.

I do think it is not really fair to blame the administration for all the frustrations we have about Guantanamo when we see that there were problems and wrong things done in the previous administration as well.

The prison is a waste of money and a propaganda tool for terrorists.

The prison should be closed. National security experts of both parties agree with me.

We need reliable and comprehensive data regarding children with medical complexity.

And, Dr. Pollock, the--and it has been reviewed, but the American people need to know again, so restate.

U.S. support for discussions about the Arab Peace Initiative could be an important new ingredient in this picture going forward.

There is unprecedented cooperation going on behind the scenes between Israel and some of the countries that were long regarded as Israel's enemies.

When you speak with Israeli leadership, they will say there is no conflict with the Arab world. There is a conflict with the Palestinians.

If the PA were to collapse, what we are likely to see is not a more democratic regime, unfortunately.