Political Quotes

“I will speak very briefly on this matter because I would like to support Senator Rockefeller's call for an inquiry into this area, particularly as it relates to rendition. Let me begin by saying that I strongly agree with my friend and chairman, the distinguished Senator from Kansas, with respect to how important a time this is with our people in harm's way. Chairman Roberts is absolutely right that the fight against terrorists certainly is not a nice business. We understand that. I want to take a minute and support Senator Rockefeller in the hopes we can work this out and do it in a bipartisan way along the route we took with respect to Iraq, where we got a unanimous agreement in our committee and showed a difficult area could be tackled in a bipartisan way. The reason I support Senator Rockefeller and want this matter addressed is I think this inquiry could especially provide another useful tool in our fight against al-Qaida. I say that because the longer the war against al-Qaida and its associates goes on, the more we realize what a sophisticated enemy we are facing. Bin Laden and his followers understand the modern media, both here and abroad. They know that allegations of torture and mistreatment undercut our efforts amongst our allies and influences world opinion against the United States. It seems to me we cannot allow ourselves to be defamed by deceitful and murderous madmen who have learned how to manipulate public perception.…”