Richard Blumenthal

I am concerned as much about the threat that North Korea poses in terms of nuclear proliferation over the long-term as the immediate tension and potential threat in the short-term.

China is, I think de facto, the only real, so to speak, ally that North Korea would have.

The ability to move 10 tons of cocaine in a mini-sub, if you have that ability you can also move a nuclear device.

The truly dark edge of the spectrum is WMD and the proliferation of these weapons.

Isn't it a fact that Iran would be greatly disadvantaged if North Korea were not helping it?

Isn't the Republic of North Korea a primary contributor to this problem?

Don't we need to continue our sub-building program at the rate we are now of two-a-year to keep pace with what's happening in the rest of the world?

I think that Iran would be greatly advantaged if North Korea helps them.

I want to thank you all for your very helpful testimony and for your extraordinary service to our Nation.

I agree with you that our civilian law enforcement authorities... now has been outgunned and outmanned and outresourced by those criminal networks.

I think the thing that all of this illicit activity has in common, whether it's people, drugs, money, or weapons--is this complex criminal network that has grown in size, capacity, ruthlessness, and the ability to find the vulnerabilities…

If you're speaking, Senator, about drugs, just more assets.

I think again it's not a bright line in the sand. I think the issue for us will be 12 looks like the right number as we go to the future.

You've referred to it, I think, as the greatest single illegal transfer of wealth in the history of the world.

I personally feel that approach is critical to our Nation's security.

That basic ambition is still there; you would agree with that?

I don't know how I can go back to the people of Connecticut and say everything's fine, but we're cutting special operations by 10 percent.

The sooner the better that we reverse these cuts so as to avoid the lasting damage to our national security.

I think we've all been through this before. You get the situation where--Senator Thune and I are working on this--that--called cybersecurity, when it's the greatest national security threat, it is greatly in advance of terrorism of 11--you…

I still remember Richard Darman. Do you remember Richard Darman? Yes. He was head of OMB under Ronald Reagan, and he came and testified for the Finance Committee, and he went into sort of a seclusion for a week before he testified, and he…

Legislatures are not required to solve all of the problem it wants. They can take incremental steps towards solving the problem.

This time is different. This time we will do something. And the reason it is different is that Newtown changed America.

Restrictions on the manufacture and sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines and assault weapons are also consistent with the Second Amendment.

No city can stop gun violence alone because our city borders are porous to illegal trafficking.

I hope it is continued constructively with that comment and helping to prevent gun violence and the kind of massacre that we saw in Newtown.