Dan Coats: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and let me start by commending you and Senator Thune for your bipartisan leadership on the…”

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.

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.

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

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