Transcript [PDF] - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

35
Ms. WOOLSEY. I would just like to say, I referred to the fact that
this was when Secretary Clinton was a Senator. That was then and
this is now. She was also representing the people of her state, and
as I represent the people of my district, and now she has, you
know, risen to higher status, strata.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. And is now opposed to this resolution.
Ms. WOOLSEY. But I am only saying she supported it when she
was a Senator, supporting those in her state. And I do yield back.
Chairman BERMAN. The gentlelady has yielded back the balance
of her time. And the gentleman from Texas, Judge Poe, moves to
strike the last word
Mr. POE. I move to strike the——
Chairman BERMAN. Recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an interesting debate
we are having today. Some say it is a hard decision. Hard decisions
are what we are supposed to do. My background I made
hard decisions for 22 years. I look at this several ways. Armenians
say one thing, and they are very passionate about it, and good for
them. But the Turks say something different. You know, to the
Turks the Armenians don’t come to the table with necessarily clean
hands. So there is the dispute between the two groups of people
about something in our past or in the past.
Resolutions haven’t changed anything. Nations have, 20 nations
have adopted resolutions, and we are still talking about resolutions.
Why would another resolution make a difference on this
issue I don’t know that it would. So maybe we have to think of
it and approach it from a different point of view. There are talks
going on with Armenians and Turks, NGOs are talking, protocols
are being developed on talking this through and solving the problem.
I believe that an ultimate decision must be solved by these
two peoples, and it will be.
So what is the United States’ position, should we take sides so
to speak Well maybe we should take the third side, which is the
American side. What is in the best interest of the United States
Is it in the best interest of Americans to sign this resolution or
adopt this resolution I think not. And the reason being because of
the situation we have with our own military, with our troops that
are in harm’s way, as my friend from Texas, Mr. McCaul, has
pointed out, and also that there are talks that are going on.
I personally think that if we adopt the resolution, these negotiations,
these talks between the Turks and the Armenians, that will
not be encouraged by our resolution, in fact it may harm those
talks, because I firmly believe this must be and will be resolved by
these two groups of people who both are very strongly positioned
to resolve this conflict once and for all. So I think it is in our best
interest as a nation to not adopt this resolution, and I will vote no
on the resolution. And I will yield back the remainder of my time.
Chairman BERMAN. The gentleman has yielded back the remainder
of his time. And does the gentleman from Georgia seek recognition
Mr. SCOTT. No.
Chairman BERMAN. Does the gentleman from California seek recognition
Mr. COSTA. Yes.
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