Senate Proceeding on May 4th, 2009 :: 0:40:50 to 0:49:00
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0:40:46 to 0:41:07( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: quorum call: a the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. kerry: mr. president, i ask that further proceedings of the quorum call be dispensed with. objection. mr. kerry: i thank the president. mr. president, i rise today to join my colleague, ranking

0:40:50 to 1:00:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Kerry

0:41:08 to 0:41:29( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: member of the consider to be an important piece of legislation from our committee and an important initiative for the administration and for the congress and the american people. we are joining together today to introduce the enhanced partnership with pakistan act. now, i believe that legislation

0:41:30 to 0:41:52( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: has already been placed at the desk. this is legislation that will fundamentally change america's policy towar pakistan. and i hope that over time it will fundamentally change america's relationship with the people of pakistan as well. now, i especially want to thank senator lugar for his partnership in crafting this

0:41:53 to 0:42:14( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: legislation and for his ongoing leadership on this issue. mr. president, it's hard to overstate the importance to our national security of pakistan. and, in fact, the newspapers every day now are full of events that are transpiring there and of the challenges that we face.

0:42:15 to 0:42:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: pakistan is a nation which could either serve as a forcer stability and progress in a volatile region or an epicenter for radical and violence -- radicalism and violence on a cataclysmic scale.

0:42:38 to 0:42:58( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: this is a nation of strikin on one hand we know that pakistan is a nation bin the past seven years. a haven where they and their confederates plotted and carried out attacks on their host country, on neighboring countries an sites around the globe.

0:42:59 to 0:43:20( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: a nation that has seen the taliban advance to within 60 miles of its capital and a nation with a full nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of delivering them anywhere in a 1,000-kilometer range.

0:43:21 to 0:43:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: pakistan is nation whose 170 million people are overwhelmingly moderate and committed to democracy and rule of law. a major nonnato ally that has sacrificed the lives of 1,500 of ss soldiers and police in the fight against terrorism and a nation that lost more of its

0:43:42 to 0:44:04( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: citizens to the scourge of terrorism than all but a tiny handful of countries throughout the world. in short pakistan has the potential to be either crippled by the taliban or to serve as a bulwark against everything that the taliban represents. that why the obama administration and many of us in congress see the need for a

0:44:05 to 0:44:27( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: bold, n strategy for pakistan. the status quo has not brought success. the stakes could not be higher and we have little choice but to think differently. in fact, to think bigger about wh tse challenges are. the enhanced partnership with pakistan act is the centerpiece of this new approach, which is why president obama has called

0:44:28 to 0:44:49( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: on congress to pass it. an earlier version of this bill was reported out of the foreign relations committee in july with overwhelming bipartisan support. this version builds upon its predecessor in a number of important ways. first, this directs 100 -- $100 million

0:44:50 to 0:45:10( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: toward an urgent reform and equipping. second, it mandates strict accountability from the administra dollar spent, using bench max and metrics to measure and adapt our performance. third in light of the acute security challenge on the

0:45:11 to 0:45:31( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: ground, this bill gives our ambassador the flexibility to respon unfold. mr. president, we believe this bill is urntlely needed. for decades the united has sought the cooperation of pakistani decision makers through military aid. almost exclusively military aid. while paying scant attention to

0:45:32 to 0:45:53( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: the needs of the population itself. this arrangement is, rapidly disintegrating. we feel we're paying too much for one thing and gettingoo little for a broad number of things that we really need. need. and when i say we, i emphasize

0:45:54 to 0:46:14( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: the pakistani people's the desires and aspirations of the pakistani people have never been adequately focused on or attended to sufficiently in these policies. most pakistanis understand that they have been frankly left out of the policy

0:46:15 to 0:46:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: as a result, an alarming percentage of the pakistani population now sees america as a greater threat than al qaeda. until we change that perception, there is, frankly, very little chance of ending toleranceor terrorist groups or persuading any pakistani government to devote the political capital

0:46:38 to 0:46:58( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: necessary to deny such groups and to deny them the sanctuary that they have been able to receive, particularly in the western part of the country, as well as to deny them the covert materiel support which they have also been able to get from a number of different the dangers of inaction arising

0:46:59 to 0:47:19( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: almost every day. so when people measure this legislation, that's really what they have to consider. what happens if you do nothing? well, if clear that the march of terror th is taking hold in a number of different places clearly

0:47:20 to 0:47:40( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: threatens nuclear weapons that might then potentially hands that are completely unpredictable. in fact, to whatever degree they might be predi only see danger in that kind of eventuality. the dangers of inaction are

0:47:41 to 0:48:01( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: real. and almost any scenario that you play out plays agast the broader interests of the pakistani people and of the democratic government which struggles today to provide services and to govern them. in the months since president obama called on congress to pass the bill that we are now

0:48:02 to 0:48:27( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: introducing, the situation on the ground in pakistan has deteriorated significantly. the government struck what many of us believed and said at the time was an ill-advised deal at effectively ve effectively surre swat valley to the taliban.

0:48:28 to 0:48:49( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: the deal imoald emboldened the taliban to use the same tax particulars that they -- tactics that they used in afte afghanistan and pack stan and extend their reach. now, i senator lugar will join me in emphasizing this -- ultimately it is n the united states or united states policy that is going to decide what happens in pakistan.

0:48:50 to 0:49:11( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: ultimately it will be pakistanis, not americans, who must determine their nation's future. but we can change the nature of our relationship and we can empower those pakistanis who are fighting to steer the world's second largest musli country on to a path of stability and regional cooperation.