Political Quotes

“events in Egypt continue to concern people of good will in this country and across the globe, who have shared the Egyptian people's yearning for greater freedom under the rule of law. I am the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the State Department and foreign operations. But even if I were not chairman of that subcommittee, I would have been watching the situation in Egypt with great interest and growing dismay, where hundreds of people are sentenced to death after a sham trial lasting barely an hour. It is appalling to see this flouting of human rights and abuse of the justice system, which are fundamental to any democracy. Nobody--nobody--can justify this. It does not show a commitment to democracy. It shows a dictatorship run amok. It is an egregious violation of human rights. So I am not prepared to sign off on the delivery of additional aid for the Egyptian military. I am not prepared to do that until we see convincing evidence the government is committed to the rule of law. We cannot stand here and say: We are troubled by hundreds of people being sentenced to death after a few minutes in a mass trial, but since we have been friends for so long we will go ahead and send you hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. No. I do not think the taxpayers of this country would condone that, and neither do I. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.”