I appreciate the confidence the President and Secretary Clinton have placed in me by putting my name forward for your consideration.

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.

Certainly it is the view of the United States that that kind of upstream/downstream communication needs to be enhanced and improved.

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

If confirmed, I will do my best to continue to strengthen relations between the United States and each of these five countries.

There's been some concern over here in the Congress, and I'm one of those who has articulated this concern...

We abhor those attacks, and we called on North Korea to refrain from all such provocative actions in the future.

But I think you would agree that there are differences between responses generated directly from your office...

it's a matter of real concern when we're trying to figure out what the exact policies are in our executive branch...

It's a little disconcerting when Members of the Senate write very specific policy-oriented letters... and receive a response from your office.

I wanted to come down, first, to express my best wishes and congratulations to the two nominees.

I think what we want to try to accomplish is to have a base or military presence that makes sense.

there's no real indication that the official in charge is accountable for what is in the letter.

I'm clearly going to support them, and I wish them the best in carrying out their responsibilities.

If we continue to slash the foreign assistance budget irresponsibly as your side of the aisle did in H.R. 1, we are going to cripple our ability to exercise diplomacy.

We need a vibrant foreign affairs policy. However, that policy needs to be one that is prudent with the American taxpayer's money.

The idea that the world's surviving superpower cannot afford to back up its diplomatic efforts is to me a reckless thought, an unacceptable thought.