Chris Coons

I think Chairman Wyden has led early positive, constructive conversations within this committee about how we might use a comparable vehicle or this vehicle for sustained funding and financing for the development of promising technologies.

I was pleased that Senator Murkowski earlier in this hearing referenced something that I think holds real promise for a bipartisan path forward.

I think you've made tremendous accomplishments.

I would like to thank Senator Flake and Senator Durbin who joined us today.

I would like to thank you and Senator Durbin for the National Defense Authorization Act and the provisions on accountability.

Has it had any impact at all, or the lack of enforcement, the lack of training and support and engagement by the police and the judicial system--is that the core problem?

Thank you very much for your attention.

This is a moment--a moment when peace is possible, when with a disciplined and engaged and thorough international support and engagement, we might really see the beginning of the end of what has been decades of horrible challenge and…

For this, a sustained political process, led by the U.N. Special Envoy, and supported by the United States and this committee is the best hope we have had in more than a decade to help move this region toward the peace and prosperity that…

Thank you, Mr. Prendergast, for those particularly spirited and focused remarks and recommendations.

The United States should work with the European Union to convene all of these companies in the supply chain.

We need an unrelenting investment in the creation of a legitimate peace process.

We have just got to step up the game and create a cost for those that are going to undermine the effort to have peace in the region.

There now exists a better chance for peace in eastern Congo than at any time since the current deadly cycle of conflict began in the mid-1990s.

The new normal, I believe, is accountability, and that is partly due to the fact that this committee was so strong in its condemnation of that.

I plan to present the administration with a list of key recommendations for changes or for a path forward to United States policy and to introduce a resolution calling for Secretary Kerry to appoint a special envoy to address the conflict…

For every villain who would take a life to further their ends, there are heroes ready to stand up to them.

I would like to thank all four of our witnesses, those who have traveled long distances and those who have come from nearby, for your engagement, your service, your leadership, and your insight on these issues.

A key role a special envoy could play is to insist on accountability for the DRC and for Rwanda.

It is critical for the U.S. Government to play a more active role than we have in the past in any upcoming initiatives.

The fourth reason why peace is possible is, as you noted in your opening statement, Senator Coons, this new Peace and Security Framework that 11 countries have signed along with the United Nations Secretary General.

Violence used as a tool of fear all around the world has a horrible impact on families and communities.

I very much look forward to working together to address these pressing and important issues in the very near future.

How do we accomplish restorative justice? How do we accomplish accountability and the end of impunity for gender violence?

If you can have major U.S. mining companies coming into North Kivu and investing, it will be a way of also bringing peace in the region.