Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H. Res. 351, which condemns the violence and persecution against LGBT or perceived-to-be LGBT individuals in Chechnya. This resolution is an example of the strong bipartisanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee under the leadership of Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel. I thank my good friend, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who has long been a champion of the dignity of all people around the world, for introducing H. Res. 351. I also thank the chairman and ranking member for working with us to ensure this resolution was passed without delay and with the support of the full committee. On April 1 of this year, the Novaya Gazeta, one of the few independent Russian newspapers, posted a chilling report detailing a concerted campaign by Chechen authorities to identify, round up, torture, and murder gay or perceived-to-be-gay men and women in the Chechen region of Russia. Dozens of suspected LGBT men and some women have been rounded up with estimates of more than 100 people being detained, and at least three murdered, maybe many more. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has denied the reports.…”