China is one of the few countries in the world that does not recognize riparian water rights downstream.

I think that it's incumbent upon the Ambassador and other American Government officials who operate in China, whether it's from our Embassy or even visiting Members of the Congress, to take advantage of those different mechanisms of talk…

We talk about human rights. 'Human rights' is something of an amorphous term...

The thing I learned in politics is, quit while you are ahead.

We're very, very deeply concerned about transshipment of weapons systems material from North Korea to other parts of the world.

Vietnam is one of the most important countries in terms of our relationships in this part of the world.

The State Department issued a public statement the day after we heard that Dr. Vu had been sentenced. We stated in that release that we were deeply concerned by the sentencing and we called for the release of Dr. Vu.

We would be remiss if we did not recognize that there has been dramatic improvement in this area over the years.

We are very sympathetic in this regard to Vietnamese concerns, and we will be watching, very closely, in the run up to the next Mekong River Commission meeting how this decision plays out.

You would agree, would you not, that sanctions from the outside affect the ability of a country to evolve economically and in other ways?

This is, indirectly, a sovereignty issue. Water, that is the availability of water in that region, can become a national security issue too if one country or another decides they can shut water off.

I personally have had strong concerns over many years about territorial claims in the South China Sea by the Chinese.

I have been among those here who are very concerned about what is happening in the Mekong River Delta.

I have spent a great deal of my adult life, as you know, trying to build bridges so that we could move it forward.

The future of this country is so inextricably intertwined with this region.

Senator Graham informed me that he has real concerns about this reduction.

As you know, I am the co-chair of the bicameral congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, along with Congressman Adam Schiff.

We will work to strengthen the law to ensure criminals who operate online are not able to harm U.S. consumers.