Frank Rudolph Wolf

“ But in this new, young administration, even the rhetoric
is absent.
Reports of the President's trip to Russia quote a top National
Security Council adviser as saying the Obama administration "came to
the conclusion that us waving our fingers around the world is a
strategy that hasn't worked very well in the past." This same adviser
later conceded to Politico that human rights were never raised in
Obama's meeting with Russian President Putin.
It seems this administration could learn a lesson from history . . . ”

“ A May 7 Washington Post editorial described the Obama administration
as rushing to "embrace Egypt's 81-year-old strongman," in reference
to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The editorial went on to say that
the administration is retreating from raising human rights abuses and
that "the pullback is not only rhetorical." Funding for democracy
promotion in Egypt, reportedly at the request of the U.S. ambassador to
Egypt, was initially cut from $50 million to $20 million this year. ”

“ I join the ranks of those who are deeply troubled by the trajectory
of this administration on human rights.
In a February visit to Asia, Secretary of State Clinton plainly
indicated that human rights would not be a priority in her engagement
with China. She said, "We pretty much know what they [the Chinese
government] are going to say" on human rights issues.
With that logic, the administration will rarely find it advisable to
raise human rights concerns with any country, particularly the worst
offenders.
Clinton went on, "We have to continue to press them. ”

“ Clinton is doing a
disservice to her own department--and sending the wrong message to
rulers around the world that their abuses won't be taken seriously by
this U.S. administration."
Against this backdrop, President Obama in April moved to lift
restrictions on travel and remittances for Cuban Americans absent any
commitment by the Castro brothers to release even one of the hundreds
of political prisoners who languish in jails. ”

“ June 25 pointed out that in both the Bush and Clinton administrations,
NED awardees were given either an audience with the president or a
statement of support. Not so this year.
According to the Post, the White House issued a "hastily drafted
statement" only after the paper inquired about the president's
silence. These brave Cuban democracy activists are, in the words of the
Post's editorial page, "hoping that the American president will focus
his policy on supporting them. Yet for now, Mr. Obama's diplomacy is
clearly centered on their oppressors." ”

“ In the president's much anticipated Cairo speech, he only made
fleeting reference to Egypt's Coptic Christians, saying that
"religious diversity must be upheld." But far more than diversity is
at stake. ”