Washington, DC – Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on the nomination of Rex Wayne Tillerson to serve as U.S. Secretary of State:
“The United States represents to the world a model of democratic leadership and honesty.
“Rex Tillerson has spent his career in an international oil company that was cozy with the worst foreign governments, particularly with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and that has been fundamentally dishonest with the world as to what Exxon knew about climate change.
“Mr. Tillerson has spent his life extracting: extracting fossil fuels from the earth, extracting drilling concessions from corrupt regimes, extracting special tax favors from Congress, and extracting profits for his shareholders.
“American leadership in a dangerous world is about more than that. I do not think Mr. Tillerson has American values, and I will not support his nomination.”
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