Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I would like to speak for a couple of minutes--I know the time at 4:45 is otherwise obligated; I will be briefer than that--about President Calderon's visit to the United States, his joint session speech to Congress, and a border security amendment I intend to offer, hopefully, as soon as tomorrow. As you know, Mr. President, President Calderon addressed a joint session of Congress, and I was fortunate enough to have a very brief conversation with him in the anteroom before he came to the floor of the House, during which time I told him I admire his commitment to fight the drug cartels in Mexico. During his remarks before the Congress and to the American people, President Calderon said some things I thought were very important for all of us to hear. First of all, he said Mexico has gone ``all-in'' against the cartels--with increased commitments and personnel and equipment--and, unfortunately, is suffering significant losses and casualties in the fight. There have indeed been 23,000 Mexicans, approximately, since 2006, who have lost their lives in Mexico during these drug wars. President Calderon also reminded us that Mexico is one of our most important trading partners, primarily as a result of NAFTA--the North American Free Trade Agreement. He pointed out that Mexico has, notwithstanding its other challenges, managed to keep its budget deficit low relative to its GDP--a record of fiscal discipline that should give us some embarrassment in Washington.…”