John Kerry

Obama doesn't have to be turning Afghanistan into Belgium, but they do want us to get it right.

Today, that same consumer has options, and that's because SHVERA and its legal predecessors ushered in a world where consumers could choose between the cable company, satellite providers, like DIRECTV and the DISH Network.

The Satellite Home Viewer Extension Reauthorization Act has one of those fancy Washington acronyms, SHVERA, and it is definitely not the best-known piece of communications legislation.

It also means more programming innovation, it means more viewing packages to choose from, and it means greater incentives for companies to be able to develop new digital technology for program viewing.

I have serious reservations about committing to any nuclear cooperation agreement until there is an international agreement that effectively prohibits the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technologies.

Any nation with enrichment or reprocessing capabilities poses two threats. First, it can spark what amounts to an arms race as regional adversaries seek to have their own capabilities. Second, it increases the risk that weapons-grade…

We need to look no further than Iran to find a country which the United States used to provide nuclear fuel, that now insists on having its own fuel supply for what it claims are civilian purposes.

I do have strong concerns about expanding the use of nuclear energy, particularly in this volatile region, before we have an international regime in place to ensure that countries will not export enrichment and reprocessing technologies.

I think it's vital that Congress exercise its oversight power and hold hearings to carefully consider the terms and implications of every nuclear cooperation agreement that comes before us.

In Afghanistan, it's not so clear really what the commitment may be.

Five years is a long-term commitment by the United States to Pakistan.

Nor should the West risk being trapped in a Vietnam-style quagmire, a war without end and with no guarantee of success.

A precipitous withdrawal would repeat the strategic mistake of the 1990s, when the United States abandoned Afghanistan to the chaos that nurtured al-Qaeda.

The choice for the United States should not be between an open-ended escalating military engagement and cut and run from Afghanistan.

Let me be clear, no matter what strategy we adopt, it must recognize that the actions we take in Afghanistan will have direct repercussions in Pakistan.

We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past when we pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989 and left the job undone.

The Kerry-Lugar initiative signals our determination to put the relationship on a new foundation, with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan front and center.

The Crimes Against Humanity Act would help ensure that our country does not become a safe haven for the perpetrator of sexual violence in conflict.

Earlier this year, I introduced S. 1346, the Crimes Against Humanity Act of 2009.

I am sorry to say that if a foreign warlord who engaged in mass rape found safe haven in our country today, he would probably be beyond the reach of our laws.

Without ratifying CEDAW, the United States lacks a certain international credibility to be a true global partner.

The need for the United States to take the high moral ground, to show moral leadership, internationally.

It's time to acknowledge that these horrendous crimes are nothing less than a war on the next generation.

I do want to mention that Senator Boxer came to me, earlier in the year, and I want to congratulate her and thank her.

Hopefully when that comes out we will have a little bit more information, a little more knowledge.