Political Quotes

“I rise once again as a proud American. I love my country. I love what it stands for, in terms of its great ideals. And, Madam Speaker, as a proud American, I rise today to address the question of hostage taking. One of the principles that we employ in international diplomacy--and I am being a little bit euphemistic by saying ``international diplomacy''--is that of not negotiating with hostage takers. If you take one of our planes, highjack one of our planes, and you demand a ransom, we will not negotiate with you. Grab an American off the streets in some distant place, and we will not negotiate with you. It doesn't matter that you start out at $50 million and then reduce your desire to have a ransom to $10 million, maybe. We don't negotiate with you. You are a hostage taker. The United States of America, the greatest and richest country in the world, which can pay the price, refuses to negotiate with hostage takers. Madam Speaker, this is bigger than the President. This is about whether or not we will allow any President to take hostages and demand a ransom that must be paid or else the hostages will continue to suffer. This is about whether we will allow any President to do this-- not just a Republican President, any President. It is un-American to take persons hostage within this country and demand a ransom when we wouldn't allow it on the international stage. I am a person who decided that it was appropriate to meet with the hostages, and I did.…”