John Kerry

The region needs a strong commitment from the United States to push back Iran's actions in Iraq, in Syria, and elsewhere.

I agree with the formulation that Senator Kaine put forward, that Iran--that the sanctions were effective, certainly in debilitating their economy, but it did not do much to slow their drive toward a nuclear weapon.

One question that I think is on the minds of a lot of people is whether this deal will lead our regional allies to decide that they, too, should pursue a nuclear weapons program.

In my view, if the arrangements currently being negotiated for inspection and monitoring, together with the mechanisms for reimposing sanctions, should the Iranians be caught cheating, if those are robust enough to deter and detect Iranian…

You folks passed sanctions. We passed sanctions.

Under no circumstances will Iran be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon.

It is time for the defensive strategy we and our international partners have pursued thus far to transition to an offensive strategy.

President Obama deserves credit for having made the decision, which I think was key, that he was not going to move until they began to make the moves to put a government change in place.

The President has made it clear it is not his policy. And I have never seen anybody more adamant about that.

We ask you now to work closely with us on a bipartisan basis to develop language that provides a clear signal of support for our ongoing military operations against ISIL.

I do believe there are ways to craft this so that it is not open-ended.

The mission was going to be without troops, without ground forces. It was designed that way.

No. I think the President feels that he has the full authority, both constitutionally and through the current AUMF.

I think that your statement was incorrect, and you know, everybody is accountable for what they say, and so are you.

Meanwhile, our Syrian rebels honestly do not understand why you will not protect them from Bashar's intense bombing campaign.

ISIS terrorists are not going to simply go away. We cannot ignore them and hope that they will embrace our values.

But as President of the United States, he also believes that his constitutional authority is vital and his ability as Commander in Chief to fully empower his military to be able to effect what he needs should not be micromanaged.

I would appreciate if you would go on and----

We all have decided we have got to defeat these guys. Everybody is agreed that we have to degrade and defeat ISIL.

What do your enemies do in the meantime? What do our allies do in the meantime?

I also think that there is a very compelling reason for Congress to act and to express itself, as Senator Kaine has said, months after we already sent sons and daughters of America into harm's way.

The President acknowledges, as any President would, as all of our military would, ask any of the people who are being asked to implement this strategy whether they feel comfortable knowing that they have been limited.

Should have been a casus belli.

I support the conduct of this conflict against ISIL, that I think they are a real and present threat to the United States and our allies in the region.

Yes, there is a great deal of effort to try to expedite at this point in time.