John Kerry

It is incorrect when it says that Congress could actually modify the terms of an agreement at any time.

The enduring transformation that has to take place here is not going to take place if the United States just comes in and we knock out ISIL and that is it, go away.

I just wanted you to know that today the Treasury Department has authorized--has initiated additional sanctions on eight Ukrainian separatists.

We are negotiating a plan that will have in it a capacity for enforcement.

That is why we built the 62-member coalition. That is why we worked so hard to get these five Arab countries engaged in the kinetic activities with us.

They are not perfectly comfortable. They are nervous. They are apprehensive.

There is no grand bargain being discussed here in the context of this negotiation. This is about a nuclear weapon potential.

As long as it is clear that...

Our Nation is strongest when we act together--and we simply cannot allow this collection of murderers and thugs to achieve its ambitions.

Since the coalition came together less than half a year ago, we have stopped ISIL's surge, we have degraded its leadership.

Nothing in this agreement contemplated, if it gets reached, is based on trust. Nothing.

I believe that Senator--the remarks made by Senator Menendez, Senator Flake, Senator Perdue, and others about the need to come together as a Congress and have a meaningful AUMF are important.

The AUMF is ISIL specific, and it does not authorize activities against Assad.

During my 29 years here in the Senate, I never heard of nor even heard of it being proposed anything comparable to this.

Absolutely. I mean, look, we are convinced we have the authority.

We are not asking to do that, nor are they asking us to do that because I think they understand that the implications of that would be actually to aid in the recruitment to create a bigger problem than we face today.

I hope and believe that there is an overwhelming consensus that ISIL must be stopped.

Our coalition is receiving help from governments throughout and beyond the Middle East, governments that may disagree on other issues, but not about the need to take decisive action against Daesh.

I am pleased to return here, and particularly so in the distinguished company of Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

If the region will not weigh in to battle their own terrorist threat, there is no amount of ground troops we could put in to Iraq or Syria to win the battles there.

I met with King Salman, who completely supported what we are doing.

I am concerned about Iran's growing efforts in the region, and we have made it very clear that it is an administration concern.

I do not want the new President to come in and face the kind of choice that I faced on my desk day one.

They are comfortable with what we shared with them, and Saud al-Faisal, the senior Foreign Minister in the world, I might add, publicly sat with me at a press conference in which he articulated their support for what we are doing.

There is no consideration whatsoever as to how they or anybody else feels. We will do what is necessary in conjunction with our coalition.