John McCain

I think I'd be pretty pleased this morning.

In other words, we articulated we were going to get rid of Bashar Assad.

A precipitate U.S. departure, military and political, could put all of those gains and all of those lives at risk.

An increasingly stable and secure Afghanistan is the best way to do that.

You can't talk about Afghanistan unless Pakistan is in that equation.

A group of us met with President Ghani over the weekend, and he was very strong and adamant that this current plan will put the Nation in danger.

I think General Raheel understands that he has a big piece to play in this.

But, does it strike you that there is no mention of Bashar Assad or an authorization to do anything in opposition of Bashar Assad?

President Obama must replace his plan for unconditional withdrawal from Afghanistan with a conditions-based drawdown.

We can't let Afghanistan become a sanctuary for al-Qaeda or ISIS.

Your testimony has been very helpful.

I do recall a thing called the Reagan Doctrine, which in the words of Margaret Thatcher, won the Cold War without firing a shot.

Unless we do something such as you are recommending, the Nation's security is at risk.

In the intervening years, there has never been a plan forthcoming from the White House, and there obviously isn't, today.

Why shouldn't the American people know the conditions under which people are released?

We need a proposal. And, in its absence over 6 years, Congress has acted.

The American people need to know the conditions under which avowed enemies of the United States of America are.

For many years, I have believed that it would further U.S. national security interests to close the Guantanamo detention facility. I still do.

The recent successes of radical groups like ISIL, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram, as well as our lack of a strategy to counter them, are a far more powerful source of radicalization and terrorist recruitment today than anything happening at GTMO.

Every nation has the obligation to have a secure border.

In the short-term, visiting your facility, it is still pretty easy to get across our border, would you agree?

As long as they are enforced. It is not easy to breach, by the way, Ms. Weisberg-Stewart, when people are there to make sure they do not breach the fence.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I am sorry about this. We have a hearing going on on cybersecurity.

Would you agree with me, contrary to what Ms. Weisberg-Stewart just said, that fences do matter?

There is enormous difficulty on some Federal land, such as our national monuments, to get equipment and people in and out of those areas.