Johnny Isakson

It's absolutely essential that the north be included in those elections

Given what happened in Benghazi, do you know if we have any evidence that it was Al Qaeda in the Maghreb that was a part of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, and ultimately the death of Chris Stevens?

If Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb becomes more and more powerful in neighboring partners around there, it will be a significant problem not just for the United States but for all of West Africa.

Has the coup in the north caused a refugee problem in any of the bordering countries?

On countering al-Qaeda, you're talking about a significant, potentially significant military intervention.

I am concerned that the current United States approach toward Mali may not be comprehensive and forward-leaning enough to address all three of these difficult, complex, and interconnected crises--security, political, and humanitarian.

I believe that the countries in the region are demonstrating the will and the intent to intervene.

I think the State Department should be forthright. We should know what communications they had leading up to September 11th.

I do not understand the continuance of the president to look the other way and not admit the fact that this was obviously a terrorist attack.

If the administration claims executive privilege or looks the other way and denies it, Senator Corker and I will continue to pursue it because we think the American people, the Congress of the United States and certainly the family of…

I cannot a U.S. ambassador who would write that in a diary would not have sent cables to inform the State Department of his danger.

We have an administration apparently without a policy or looking the other way, referring to the tragic death of an ambassador as a bump in the road.

For 3 consecutive fiscal years, the leadership in the Senate majority party has consciously decided not to bring a budget to the floor of the Senate. Do you know what the result has been? We have spent $10.6 trillion and increased our debt…

Thank you, Mr. President. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Georgia is recognized.

May I inquire of the Chair how much of the proponents' time would that 3 minutes leave? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Five minutes.

I think we have to understand the tremendous appreciation there is of the investment of the United States people in PEPFAR and the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the tuberculosis initiative and other things like that.

It is important to note that that is better than U.S. single family residential mortgages.

We are trying to move it forward. We are kind of a hostage right now to a couple of situations which hopefully we will be released without harm.

In my view, the United States must fully capitalize on the exponentially growing number of consumers and the promising market potential in Africa.

A significant portion of United States direct investment in commercial activity in Africa is in the extractive sectors, is in oil and gas.

One of the things that really is an encumbrance to United States investment of U.S. companies in Africa is the corruption issue.

Do you have the ability in your paperwork that is executed on the loans to stop funding of a loan if in fact you discover corruption between the time that you originated the loan and when you began distributing?

The jobs that will be lost in Africa that will end up going to China, Vietnam, and Thailand are disappointing tremendously.

We must also eliminate inconsistencies in the United States approach to increasing trade investment with Africa.

I think the African people are very intuitive people and appreciate the fact that we are investing in their future.