Political Quotes

“I want to thank the gentlewoman from California for her unyielding commitment to freedom and democracy across the globe. She has been a tremendous addition to this House of Representatives. I rise today in support of H.R. 4686, the Cambodia Democracy Act. This is bipartisan legislation that I introduced, along with my Democratic colleague, Alan Lowenthal. He and I are co-chairs of the Cambodia Caucus, and we were pleased to champion this legislation. I want to note that our colleague, Ted Yoho, from Florida originally introduced this a few years back, but of course he has since retired from this great institution. This legislation is a response to Prime Minister Hun Sen's ongoing crackdown on his political opponents, which began in the runup to the Cambodian elections back in 2018. He arrested Kem Sokha, the leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, on bogus charges, and then proceeded to ban the whole party, and then persecute other leaders of that party. Hun Sen also shut down NGOs and independent media, including the National Democratic Institute and Radio Free Asia. Unfortunately, four years later this crackdown hasn't let up. Hun Sen has kept the bogus charges hanging over Kem Sokha's head and prohibited him from participating in any political activity. He has also continued to target opposition politicians as well as civil society activists and journalists. In fact, starting last November, mass trials were held against opposition party members.…”