Dan Coats

Our job is to seek the truth and tell the truth.

I know others have talked about that here today, but when you and I had a chance to talk earlier in the last couple weeks, I mentioned one of my real concerns about China.

This is not just one more technology.

We can create a discipline, a way of thinking about these challenges.

We have to figure this out.

I believe the top of the list will be to reinforce the prime imperative for our Nation's Intelligence Community: to find the truth and to speak truth to power, without fear of political retribution.

I would argue that ours is not working very well and it is--at the moment.

You'll need to demonstrate to the American people that the Intelligence Community deserves their utmost confidence as a source of truth and insight.

You will need to inspire a workforce that has unfortunately been hollowed out by years of firings, and remind them that their mission is critical--and still noble.

One of the first things you can do--at this hearing, even--is to make a strong statement of support for professionalism in the IC and pledge that you will not tolerate politics influencing the analytical process.

Electoral legitimacy is the essential linchpin of our entire political culture.

If the Senate stood up.

Our democracy's enemies, foreign and domestic, want us to concede in advance that our voting systems are faulty or fraudulent, that sinister conspiracies have distorted the political will of the people, that our public discourse has been…

Woodward writes that Dan Coats continued to harbor the secret belief, one that had grown rather than lessened, although unsupported by intelligence proof that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, had something on Trump.

Trump doesn't know the difference between the truth and a lie.

I can confirm that one of my staffers who was aware of the controversy requested that I modify that assessment, but I said no. No, we need to stick to what the analysts have said.

Adversaries and strategic competitors will increasingly use cyber capabilities--including cyber espionage, attack, and influence--to seek political, economic, and military advantage over the United States and its allies and partners.

The warning lights are blinking red.

Russia and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests.

We expect our adversaries and our strategic competitors to refine their capabilities and add new tactics as they learn from each other's experiences, suggesting the threat landscape could look very different in 2020 and future elections.

The warning signs are there. The system is blinking, and it is why I believe we are at a critical point. ... the warning lights are blinking red again. Today the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack.

The Earth is now changing faster than at any point in the history of our modern civilization, primarily as a result of human activities.

Substantial damages to the United States economy, environment, and human health and well-being over the coming decades.

Increasing the risk of social unrest, migration, and interstate tension in countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Jordan.