William H. Frist: “Last night, we all listened to the statement of the assistant Democratic leader in which he addressed comments made a…”

“Last night, we all listened to the statement of the assistant Democratic leader in which he addressed comments made a week ago that had equated our U.S. military actions in Guantanamo to Nazi death camps, Soviet gulags, and Pol Pot's killing fields. My colleagues and I had urged the Senator to issue a formal apology and to strike his remarks from the Record. We asked his fellow Democrats to denounce his remarks or at least to distance themselves from those remarks. Last night, he apologized. We appreciate that and we respect that. It was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do for this body and I believe for our troops overseas. Why? Because over the course of the day's proceeding of the apology, damage was being done. Intended or not, damage was being done. It was being done by giving voices at Al Jazeera more cause to gleefully repeat those charges around the world. We believe damage was being done to our men and women in uniform, not intended but the damage was being done. With our troops in harm's way all around the globe and in an era where information flashes literally in seconds from one side of the world to the other, we all must be careful about what we say and how we say it. If what we say is not intended, then we need to correct it early on. It is a lesson we all learn over and over again. I have certainly made my share of verbal mistakes and missteps over the years.…”