New York (September 25, 2015) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today joined United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Kenneth Hackett, Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller and Deputy Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations Michele Sison, at the UN General Assembly address of His Holiness Pope Francis. Senator Markey is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and ranking member of the Africa and Global Health Subcommittee.

“It was an honor to join Ambassador Power at the UN General Assembly to hear Pope Francis’s address to the nations of the world. Yesterday, Pope Francis spoke to the American people and the United States Congress, sharing a message of compassion, inclusiveness, and action. As individuals and political leaders, we need to join in the conversation that he is calling the world to engage in about protecting people, especially the world’s poorest and most vulnerable, and our planet. The Pope’s historic environmental encyclical and his address today at the UN should spark exactly the kind of conversation we need to be having right now around the globe, especially as the world comes together to craft an international climate agreement in Paris at the end of the year.”