John McCain

I would like your and General McDew's comments and assessment of the effects of sequestration on our ability to defend the Nation.

Russia possesses the conventional and nuclear capability to be an existential threat to this Nation, should they choose to do so.

The list of challenges for our national security is as daunting as it is drearily familiar: the rampage of ISIS terrorist army, Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and support for its destabilizing proxies, revisionist Russia's invasion of…

This team of military leaders will be soon--will soon be responsible for preparing our military to confront the most diverse and complex array of global crises since the end of World War II.

Has sequestration not bred uncertainty which has contributed to this drop in morale?

I hope in answer to some of these questions, because I have run over time, you will talk about the devastating effects of sequestration on our ability to defend the Nation.

I hope that you will keep in mind your obligation to the President but also to the men and women who are serving who we may have to send into harm's way and make sure they are provided with the best capabilities.

Frankly, without that kind of support, they are not going to be able to protect themselves against Russian aggression.

I was in eastern Ukraine and watched the surveillance video that was made by the Ukrainians showing the gradual buildup of Russian forces inside Ukraine.

I recently was over in Afghanistan over the Fourth of July, and there is great concern both amongst our military and with Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah and other Afghans about the present proposal to have our force in Afghanistan down to a…

Defense budgets should be based on our long-term military strategy--that is the point the chairman made very eloquently--not sequestration-level budget caps.

I have repeatedly stated that sequestration is not the approach that we need to address our Nation's fiscal challenges.

Vladimir Putin's Russia continues its onslaught in Ukraine.

Iran continues to threaten peace and stability across the Middle East through its support of terrorist proxies, pursuit of nuclear weapons, and development of missiles needed to deliver them.

This would create a security vacuum, and we have seen what fills similar kinds of vacuums in Syria and Iraq.

The lack of a coherent strategy has resulted in the spread of ISIL around the world to Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, and even to Afghanistan.

The next Chairman will have to prepare our military to confront the most diverse and complex array of global crises since the end of World War II.

I see nothing wrong with bringing in an outside auditor to look at the whole situation

The politician's prayer is that the words that I utter today be tender and sweet because tomorrow I may have to eat them.

I think we can do far, far better than we have done, and we need to do far, far better than we have done.

Does that mean you are going to hold people accountable?

It is absolutely unacceptable.

What do I tell the taxpayers at the next town hall meeting that we wasted $1 billion on a program that never even begun at all, and no one was held responsible?

The United States should also maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social and economic system, of the people of Taiwan.

I believe the Department should prioritize continuing to assist Taiwan's effort to incorporate asymmetric concepts and capabilities into its defense.