FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act -- Continued --

Floor Speech

FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

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Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Kerry, the distinguished chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, myself, and others, we will send this resolution to the desk. I will send it after I finish my remarks. We will not be seeking a vote at this time because we are hotlining the resolution.

This is a seminal moment in the history of the Middle East and the world. We are seeing an uprising and a movement that spread across the entire Middle East. Egypt is the heart and soul of the Arab world. What we have been watching unfold in the last week has grieved and concerned all of us. There is every possibility that this crisis lurches into a genuine massacre. We cannot afford that. We must do everything in our power to see that it stops. Our resolution urges the Egyptian military to demonstrate maximum professionalism and restraint and emphasizes the importance of working to peacefully restore common order, while allowing for free and nonviolent freedom of expression. We do not want the Egyptian military to encourage thugs. We do not want the Egyptian military to be a party to increased violence.

We are concerned about an interim government. That interim government must be representative of all democratic forces within Egypt. In the resolution, we call on President Mubarak to immediately begin an orderly and peaceful transition to a democratic political system, including the transfer of power to an inclusive interim caretaker government in coordination with leaders from Egypt's opposition, civil society, and the military.

Again, I emphasize, I know my colleagues know, the Egyptian military is the most respected institution in Egypt. They risk turning the people of Egypt against them unless they act as a genuine peacemaker in Egypt.

I have been involved in Middle Eastern affairs for many years. I have traveled many times to the region. What is happening is a seminal event. How it turns out will affect the future of the 21st century. If Egypt turns to radical Islamic extremism and other countries as well, it poses not only a threat to America's national security but to the well-being of tens or hundreds of millions of people who have the God-given right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as we guarantee to all people.

I thank Senator Kerry again. We are sending a message from the Senate that I am sure the overwhelming majority of my colleagues will agree with: Stop the bloodletting. Let's start a peaceful transition to a free and open society and a government that can regain and hold the trust of the people of Egypt. This is a seminal moment and one that I believe the future of peace in the world will be relied upon.

I thank my colleagues. We look forward to further discussion. We wanted to bring this up now. It is very important, since tomorrow could be a very critical day in the history of the Egyptian people's struggle for independence and freedom.

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Mr. McCAIN. Isn't it time to urge democracy and freedom and not the time to threaten? There is plenty of time to threaten the Government and people of Egypt with reprisal. The time now is to urge democracy and freedom.

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