Joaquin Castro

I have a question about what seems in some parts of the world to be the growing cooperation between Russia and China to pursue mutual interests.

I mean that would be within their purview. But, remember, if they take out something that's significant or substantial, I mean they're really doing a -- an injustice to the American people to try to cover up something significant and…

But it's a report that's owed to the American people because it's the American people who suffered through having a foreign nation interfere in their elections in 2016.

I suspect that the President and his team will read through the report, make a determination about whether they think it's favorable to them or not, and based on that, decide whether it's going to be made public.

That was a very strange thing for the President to say. They're different parts of the government and -- and not everybody's elected. But they still have important responsibilities.

Acquiescence on the part of the United States threatens the security of all sovereign nations.

Failure to stand up to Putin's illegal annexation of Crimea sets a dangerous and irrevocable precedent.

It is the policy of the United States not to recognize the Russian Federation's claim of sovereignty over Crimea.

I am frustrated by the lack of progress on this issue at the State Department, and I hope they will work with us to ensure that this bill becomes law.

If we do not focus on all of these areas, we run the real risk of seeing authoritarian regimes like Russia and China playing a bigger role in determining the way the international community handles these issues.

Cyberspace is an increasingly critical part of foreign policy and we desperately need to update our government agencies to reflect that reality.

This bill continues our fight against the scourge of human trafficking, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing.

I believe that it gives license to countries like China and Russia to further engage with Venezuela.

It is not for us to choose the next President of Venezuela. It is for Venezuelans.

The role of the United States is to promote democracy, freedom, and human rights around the world. The role of the United States is not to handpick the next leader of Venezuela.

I have in the past supported sanctions against the Maduro regime because, as Mr. Meeks mentioned, I do believe in many ways that Mr. Maduro has oppressed his people.

I think part of the reason that we have gotten here and part of the reason that there is such frustration with the income inequality in this country is because the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and major business organizations have not taken…

I'd first like to thank the committee for considering my resolution that I authored with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York on supporting greater cooperation on space research.

The bills and resolutions considered today on Australia, Ukraine, Venezuela, Liberia, Mexico, Iran, global fragility, Counterterrorism in West Africa, organ trafficking, and HIV/AIDS address important issues in the world.

I was glad to see yesterday the announcement about the United States committing another $185 million to help combat this humanitarian tragedy.

I am glad that we are having this hearing. That we are talking about it for what it is, a health crisis.

I am told by my grandmother--I was told back then that her mother died of tuberculosis in Mexico around 1922--early 1920, and I notice that there has been about a 26 percent cut in the President's budget request in 2018 from 2017.

The situation in Nicaragua is dire. And I appreciate the President and the administration's actions in designating certain individuals in Nicaragua complicit in violence against civilians under the Global Magnitsky Act.

I think it is important, when we think about helping these countries get back on their feet, to make sure that we have an organization that is trying to root out corruption and really restore the rule of law.