On the recordJuly 17, 2017
I always applaud when the United States steps in and takes a leadership role to prevent war. I have traveled to the Mideast for many years as a Member of the United States Congress representing my constituents. I want to express my appreciation to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for the energy that he is putting into engaging Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar to be able to stop the blockade and the conflict that may continue to grow against Qatar. This is a region that many of these countries have been allies of the United States, the Southern Command is in Qatar, and, frankly, I think they need to be united against those terrorists that plague them all. I would also say that the UAE, as has been reported in the Nation's newspapers, hacked into the emails of Qatar and put words in the mouths of their government officials that were untrue. This is not the way to proceed with peace and diplomacy. So I believe we should energetically and aggressively engage these countries to stop this blockade and begin to repair the collaborative efforts to ensure that we fight the war on terror together and not against. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Tillerson. I look forward to working with him as a Member of the United States Congress to bring peace to that region. ____________________
