Political Quotes

“I would like my colleagues to join me in thanking Aiko Lane, a Brookings fellow from the Department of Defense, for her service to the Senate and to wish her well as she returns to the Pentagon. Before Aiko joined my office she was a policy adviser in the office of the Secretary of Defense focusing on countering weapons of mass destruction. She has also served as the Japan country director where she represented the Department of Defense on issues related to the U.S.-Japan alliance, including coordinating the U.S. response to Japan's 2011 devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Prior to her work on Japan, Aiko was the Afghanistan country director where she was responsible for engaging with international partners and allies on military support for the U.S. and NATO-led efforts in Afghanistan. Aiko, who received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern and a master's degree from Columbia, has been an important member of my foreign policy team over the last year, focusing much of her time and energy on my work as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy. Aiko's expertise in matters pertaining to East Asia and the Pacific and her solid advice and thoughtful analysis of all regional matters have been critical to me.…”