John Kerry

I voted to put in place a reasonable mechanism that would actually wind up with us solving our budget and deficit problems.

We are all concerned about the readiness of our military, and I hear it in different places.

I think we need to, as I said in my opening statement as forcefully as I can, what has brought us to this discussion at the U.N. now is the potential of this force, and we don't want to take it off the table.

The purpose of the strike is limited and targeted.

The limited nature of these strikes seeks to mitigate the potential for a miscalculation and escalation, as well as minimize collateral damage.

My role is to provide the President options about how we could employ military force.

The President has made the determination that it is in our national interest to respond to Assad's use of chemical weapons with limited military force.

The risk of not acting is much greater than the risk of acting.

We are not talking about America going to war. President Obama is not asking for a declaration of war.

We are the United States of America, and people look to us.

President Obama's first priority throughout this process has been and is diplomacy.

The national security interests of the United States are at risk with the chemical weapons of Syria.

If we choose not to act, we will be sending a message to Iran of American ambivalence, American weakness.

Now, to those who doubt whether Assad's actions have to have consequences, remember that our inaction absolutely is guaranteed to bring worse consequences.

He and his regime made a choice, and President Obama believes, and all of us at this table believe, that we have no choice but to respond.

Let me assure you the President of the United States didn't wake up one day and just kind of flippantly say, 'Let's go take military action in Syria.'

The American intelligence community has high confidence. High confidence. This is common sense. This is evidence. These are facts.

Sure. He could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week. Turn it over, all of it without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that. But he isn't about to do it, and it…

Do not send a message to somebody like Bashar al-Assad that he will have impunity now because the one country that can lead this effort, that is the indispensable Nation, is going to walk away from its responsibility.

If you don't want more extremism, then you should vote for this, because to not vote for it is to guarantee a continuation of this kind of struggle that will encourage extremists.

I just don't believe that. Going to war is mobilizing a force, asking people to join up, fighting a long campaign, committing your troops on the ground, fighting to win, and so forth. That is not what we are doing here.

We are the indispensable nation. This is because of who we are and what we have achieved, and we should be proud of it.

Are we going to start a new foreign policy where we truly mean what we say?

Do we mean what we say?

It would change the world's perception of America's willingness to live up to its traditional role in the world.