Political Quotes

“I thank my distinguished friend for the wonderful work he is doing as our new chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. And I thank my friend, Mr. McCaul, the distinguished ranking member. Madam Speaker, this is an important bipartisan statement. Lives are at stake. It is urgent this House speak with one voice about what is happening in Myanmar, formerly Burma. The current crisis in the wake of a military coup in which violence is escalating by the day and protestors are being killed by the dozens demands a timely response. I was pleased to introduce this bill in collaboration with the House Democracy Partnership chairman, Mr. David Price, and our Republican colleague, Mr. Vern Buchanan of Florida. On February 1, the Burmese military seized control of Burma's Government in a coup d'etat by detaining democratically elected leaders from the National League of Democracy, NLD, just hours before the country's new parliament was set to meet for its first session. And that was following an overwhelming election result in that country. Among those detained were State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; President U Win Myint; and other senior NLD leaders. In one fell swoop, the military plunged this national democracy into renewed political turmoil just as it was emerging from five decades of military rule and isolation. In 2015, more than 30 million voters elected the NLD and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to power in the country's first general election.…”