Political Quotes

“I am glad we are making such great progress on the Defense authorization bill. I know some additional work needs to be done. I wanted to come to the floor and comment briefly on the historic meeting that occurred this last week with North Korean officials in Singapore. President Trump, Secretary of State Pompeo, National Security Advisor Bolton, and the rest of the American delegation are to be congratulated for having this meeting. It was a historic first step, and I applaud President Trump for taking it. But I reiterate: It was a first step. To me, it reminds me of boxers entering the ring and touching gloves before the fight begins. It is a warmup for something longer and much more difficult. We need to remain clear-eyed about who we are dealing with and not assume that there isn't hard work to be done. As one commentator recently put it, North Korean duplicity is normal. We need to remind ourselves of our own history of negotiating with North Korea and our counterpart's record of saying one thing and simply doing another. The joint agreement signed by President Trump and Kim Jong Un set broad goals whereby the United States made unspecified ``security guarantees'' and Kim Jong Un recommitted to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This agreement set the stage for future engagements between our Secretary of State and his North Korean counterpart.…”