John Kerry

North Korea's test of a long-range ballistic missile last April, followed by its second nuclear test last month, are, frankly, reckless and irresponsible acts that do nothing to advance North Korea's security.

I have drafted legislation with Senator Casey--the Global Food Security Act--in which we advocate that development assistance be reoriented toward hunger and poverty alleviation.

Thanks to Senator Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn's visionary leadership, our cooperative threat reduction assistance programs have made great strides in upgrading security at Russian nuclear facilities.

The nuclear threat that President Obama outlined in his speech in Prague is both more complex and unpredictable than it was a generation ago.

I am committed to working toward that goal; a goal that is shared by Senator John McCain, military leaders like Colin Powell and three former Secretaries of State and Defense from both parties and Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.).

In my view, working toward ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is one way we can persuade other states to permanently end nuclear testing.

We must also continue to look for ways to enhance our security by helping others destroy weapons of mass destruction.

We can and should work on a number of those steps immediately, and specifically steps that Congresswoman Tauscher, when confirmed, will be charged with overseeing.

America must pursue the long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons and I applaud the President for affirming our commitment to this effort in his April speech in Prague.

This moment presents ample opportunities for significant progress and perhaps even a major breakthrough in the coming months and years.

The United States should not wait for China and should act regardless of China's commitment at Copenhagen.

United States refusal to act will absolutely not persuade China to agree to international commitments.

President Obama began very early on, even before he took office, to talk about green energy and a clean energy future for our country.

The United States absolutely should not adopt a posture of waiting for China before undertaking its own emissions reductions.

If we do establish barriers at the border as part of our cap-and-trade legislation, I think that will be seen by many in China as kind of confirming their view that this is really aimed at China.

The United States must curb its emissions if the world is to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

For the protection of individual rights and freedoms.

Earlier this year, while America spent $80 billion in green stimulus measures, the largest such investment in our history, China invested $200 billion.

China needs to understand, point blank, that if America went to zero tomorrow, China has the ability to obliterate every gain we make.

China recently passed us to become the world's No. 1 current emitter.

Our words and our actions will set the tone.

America is the world's largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

I'm willing to bet any of my colleagues in the United States Senate that if we don't get our act together significantly over the course of the next few years, we're going to be chasing China, 4 or 5 years from now, because that's the rate…

Together we are, today, responsible for nearly half of all global climate greenhouse gas emissions.

A robust American partnership with China will do more than anything else to ensure a successful global response to the urgent threat of climate change.