Political Quotes

“Well, all I can say is it would be like telling a North Korean to speak up. That may be a bit of an extreme example, but not too much. The point we are trying to make to President Obama is that if he believes there is a moderate element in Iran, who are they? Who is in charge of this government he is trying to empower at the expense of the hardliners? The assembly of experts are the people who pick the next Ayatollah. On March 10, they had an election--I think it was 46 to 24. Ayatollah Yazdi--I don't want to mispronounce his name--won the election to be in charge of the assembly of experts. Their No. 1 goal is to pick the next Ayatollah. He is widely known to be the hardest of the hardliners. So I want the administration to explain to us, the Congress, who the moderates are and how do you square that circle with the election of the most hardline Ayatollah to pick the next Ayatollah? What information does the President have that there is a moderate element that we can empower in Iran? Can my colleague name one moderate voice that has a real say in the Iranian Government? Mr. McCAIN. Not any who are alive or out of prison. I am sure there are many moderate voices in the Ayatollah's prisons throughout Iran by the tens of thousands.…”