Foreign Policy

Floor Speech

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Mr. REID. Mr. President, McClatchy News has a story that I think is worth talking about, a part of it at least, this morning. It says:

Newspaper editorial pages around the country have not been kind to Senate Republicans this week. A collective ``Seriously?'' has emerged in reaction to the open letter that 47 Republicans penned to the Iranian leadership, which seemed designed to undercut nuclear talks with the Obama administration.

Here are some of the things they said:

``A blot on 114th U.S. Senate,'' from the Detroit Free Press.

``The Senators who signed the letter should be ashamed,'' said the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Some sounded embarrassed.

``Cringe-worthy buffoonery on the global stage,'' says the Salt Lake Tribune.

Others seemed just weary of Capitol Hill's continuing dysfunction.

``Has Congress gone crazy?'' wondered the Courier-Journal in Louisville, KY.

Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois ``has not been among the crazies in Congress, particularly on foreign policy matters. But he joined them here,'' wrote the Peoria Journal Star.

Noting her signature endorsing the letter, the Concord Monitor said of New Hampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte:

``It's not every day that a United States senator attempts to undermine U.S. foreign policy and weaken the nation in one cursive swoop.''

In Phoenix, AZ, the Arizona Republic editorial board concluded that the Republican Senators ``are effectively declaring a congressional right to conduct subversive foreign policy proxy wars with the president, with threats to blow up agreement negotiations as their weapon of choice.''

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