Chris Coons

I am encouraged by your call that we create a counter-Russia account specifically to strengthen our allied and partner democracies.

I share the concern expressed by several others here that the suggested request from President Trump to cut tens of billions of dollars out of our diplomacy and development budget is unwise.

It is in our national interests to secure a positive, productive, long-term partnership with Iraq.

Sexual slavery, human trafficking is some of the darkest activity that happens in the world.

I hope we have a chance to talk further about exactly how we get U.S. law enforcement better funded, better engaged, better equipped.

The scope of this problem dwarfs the resources we currently have deployed against it.

It is tragic what we know happens to people who are victims in this country and in countries around the world.

I want to thank you for taking the experiences that others have brought to you and applying your skills, your leadership, and your passion to mobilizing this committee.

We are not a member of the European Union. We do not have a vote in this institution. We do not have a voice.

We should also maintain our force posture in Europe, maintain support for the European Deterrence Initiative.

The last thing Europe wants to feel is to be in a position where Washington and Moscow are actually aligned in an anti-EU, anti-NATO position.

I appreciate you also observing that Iraq should not have been included. I think it is a pressing security threat for us to have partners in an ongoing fight now not allowed to come here for training.

I could not agree with you more, that containing Iranian aggression, attempts at expanding their hegemony, is a key goal for our foreign policy.

On February 3, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Core Principles for Regulating the U.S. Financial System.

I look forward to working with you on that.

Thank you, Chairman Risch, Ranking Member Shaheen. Welcome, Mrs. McMahon.

It is a strikingly low-cost and high-impact Federal program.

I would be interested in hearing whether you could see your way toward supporting SCORE and seeing this as a critical program for your time as SBA Administrator, if you are confirmed.

I would be grateful for any help you could offer in our working together to inform more small businesses that are technology centered about that opportunity.

As the lead Democratic appropriator on the subcommittee that funds the SBA, we also talked about how this is an area of general broad agreement on a bipartisan basis.

Yes, the Obama administration tried this approach in our first term. But 2017 is not 2009.

It should worry every American that a foreign government interfered in our democratic process.

It is healthy for our parties in our political system to debate issues such as how to expand our middle class or what role our nation should play in the wider world.

We expect all of our NATO allies to do their part in keeping the Alliance strong.

What is not healthy is for a party or its leaders to cast doubt on a unanimous, well-documented assessment of our intelligence community that a foreign government is seeking to harm our country.