Dick Lugar

Since our last hearing a month and a half ago, the world has witnessed the continued violent suppression of protestors and dissidents by the regime of Bashar Assad and clashes between government forces and the armed opposition, as the…

Assad has defaulted on his word in the past. He will be judged on his actions and not his promises.

Though the situation in Syria remains fluid, there have been important diplomatic developments.

It remains to be seen whether this cease-fire is durable and how it contributes to the goal of a genuine transition in Syria.

We must also remain mindful of the security concerns presented by events in Syria.

While the administration should not take any options off the table, we should remain skeptical about committing military forces to this conflict.

Well, I join you, Mr. Chairman, in welcoming our distinguished witnesses, and we appreciate their testimony as we consider policy options toward Syria.

I will be interested to hear from our panel what courses of action they would recommend that would advance American national security interests.

our President and our Secretary of State have said Bashar al-Assad of Syria must go.

I was cautious about calling for Bashar al-Assad to go not because I do not want him to go, but because that then invites the question of 'What are you doing?'

today I wish to recognize Dr. France A. Cordova, Purdue University's 11th president and the first woman to head that institution. Dr. Cordova became president of Purdue on July 16, 2007, and has overseen a strategic plan that emphasizes…

I said at our last hearing in December on Iran that Iran was a direct threat to United States national security, the security of our close ally Israel, and other United States interests in the region.

Democratic movements across the Middle East and North Africa gave voice to the demands for democratic pluralism and respect for the rule of law and human rights, but the Iranian regime continues its brutal repression of journalists…

if there is one country in the world which perhaps is more concerned about a nuclear-armed Iran than Israel is it is Saudi Arabia.

you have mentioned one specific idea that could be used to reach out to the Iranian people, and that is the Voice of America Persian language service.

I think it would be useful for us to be able to communicate to the Iranian people what our policy is toward their nuclear program.

Iran's parliamentary elections on March 2 were boycotted by opposition candidates and reformers, and the election results appear to embolden Iran's hard-liners.

Moreover, it continues its persecution of Christian pastor, Yousef Nadarkhani, who faces execution because of his religious beliefs.

The Supreme Leader is so implacably dedicated against any deal, so frightened of any deal that he won't come.

this is, I suspect, another avenue of diplomacy that is related to Iran.

this is something that we should be talking about and planning for right now.

He famously writes in his book he got a long message from Iran saying we would now like to explore other options for negotiations with the United States.

I wish to recognize Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, who is retiring this month after 25 years of distinguished service as Indiana's Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Justice Shepard was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court by…

So if we were writing the bill, we would need to find some reference of pricing for each of these situations.

Thank you very much, Chairman.