Political Quotes

“I thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Rogers for their hard work on this bill. I have two amendments that have been added into this amendment. The first puts anticorruption at the core of U.S. foreign policy, reflecting the Biden administration's declaration that corruption is a national security threat, and indeed it is. As the House chair of the bipartisan and bicameral Helsinki Commission, bipartisan foreign policy to promote human rights and counter corruption is deeply important to our group and to our Nation. Corruption is the fuel of human rights abuse, and dictatorship is the primary means by which dictators and their cronies influence government and society. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the large group of bipartisan colleagues who supported this amendment, many of whom are members of the Counter-Kleptocracy Caucus. A special thank-you to Representatives Malinowski and Salazar, whose Combating Global Corruption Act is also included in the amendment. The other amendment would require the Secretary of Defense to attempt to recover the Afghan aircraft that the U.S. provided to the Afghan Government and were flown out of the country by Afghan pilots fleeing the Taliban. These aircraft were purchased with U.S. tax dollars and should be returned to us. They are in Uzbekistan and other countries. I am sure the Taliban would like to get them back, but they should come back to the USA.”