Russ Feingold: “I appreciate the understanding that I do want to respond to Senator Bond's remarks. Senator Bond apparently has not…”

“I appreciate the understanding that I do want to respond to Senator Bond's remarks. Senator Bond apparently has not actually read what my amendment does with regard to the Indonesian military and the IMET Program. Obviously, there is a terrorism threat in Indonesia today, as Senator Bond indicated. That is one of the conditions this amendment is all about. It is about making sure that Indonesia cooperates with us in fighting terrorist attacks, such as the ones that were so awfully perpetrated on the people in Bali. What is even more troubling about Senator Bond's remarks is that he doesn't even mention the fact that apparently the Indonesian military was involved in an incident in Papua which killed American citizens. Are we only going to be upset when American citizens are killed in Yemen and Kuwait or are we going to respond and expect standards of help and behavior from countries when our citizens are killed in a place such as Indonesia? All this amendment does is try to make sure, as we continue our relationship with Indonesia--yes, a fledgling democracy--that we actually have accountability of that Indonesian military with which we would be involved. I am very troubled when we see the failure of cooperation with the FBI's reasonable request to deal with this awful murder of our citizens.”