[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 20 (Monday, February 6, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AMERICA IS A DEFENDER, NOT AN OFFENDER

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I know this Nation's values. Many of us 
study it in the Constitution, and as a senior member of the Judiciary 
Committee, we review that document on many occasions. We are a nation 
that stands for principles of democracy; so I am very disturbed by an 
interview that was given by the White House this weekend that defended 
Putin--a man who invades to dominate, to kill, a man who supports a 
despot in Syria who has killed and gassed his own people--and compared 
his acts to any that the men and women in the United States military or 
in the United States may have done. It is not comparable to or even 
equal or even anywhere near the kind of despotism of Russia under 
Putin.
  I am offended, and I apologize to the American people for any 
comparison. I believe it to be appropriate for the White House to 
clarify and to apologize for suggesting that our values and the efforts 
we take to protect people who may encounter efforts of war in any way 
can be compared to Putin, who is, in fact, someone who kills--and kills 
to dominate, not to help.
  America is a defender, not an offender. I stand here proudly, 
supporting the values of the United States of America, a country that 
believes in the blessings of God and democracy.

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