Political Quotes

“let me apologize to my colleagues for being late. It turns out today was not a great day to travel by plane. I thank the leadership for delaying the vote as well. We will soon be voting on a resolution requesting information on Israel's human rights practices under section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act. There has been some confusion as to what this resolution does and does not do. I would like to say a few words about why it is critical that this resolution come to the floor, why it is imperative that this resolution be passed, imperative that we have this debate and recorded vote, and why Congress must have the information requested in this resolution. Very sensibly, the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, requires that any security assistance or military equipment provided by the United States of America to any country must be used in line with internationally recognized human rights. This is not a radical idea and something I hope that we all agree with. This act prohibits assistance to any government that engages in a consistent pattern of human rights violations. This is U.S. law established over 50 years ago--not a new idea. The act also provides Congress with several oversight tools to ensure that this law is followed. One such tool is section 502B(c), which allows Congress to direct the State Department to provide information on the human rights record of any country--any country--receiving U.S. military assistance.…”