Ben Cardin

I think we should be a member of the Law of the Sea Treaty. I think it would help the United States.

What kind of power are they going to be? To me, this is their key test and key moment.

In the long run, the country and the world would be better off if China took this chance to show it can, indeed, be a good global neighbor and leader.

China has to make a decision as to whether they are going to adhere to the rule of law and be a world leader with great respect or whether they are going to go their own course.

The ruling reinforces the rights of our military to operate freely in the region.

This ruling is important to our national security for several reasons.

Yesterday, an international tribunal issued an important ruling in favor of our allies the Philippines and against the People's Republic of China.

The South China Sea is one of the most strategically important commercial waterways in the world.

This is a very active committee. We move a lot of things out of here and, hopefully, we can do this for the medical profession as well.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it.

Of course, one of the things that we recognize is that budgets are going to be tight in health care.

As I listen to people talk about the Stark rules, I am just reminded of my service in the House of Representatives with Chairman Stark and being lectured--being educated--by him as to the importance of these rules.

I think this committee could be helpful, if we could get into a regular practice of State Department authorization.

We are not doing a country any favor if we give them aid and it is not being used for its intended purpose.

I am prepared to cut off funds if we are not getting the intended results and if we do not have governance improvement.

We must make these investments not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it helps contribute to economic growth and, just as importantly, stability.

With these relatively small investments, we have set goals of reducing maternal and child deaths, creating an AIDS-free generation and scaling up our investments to combat a host of global health challenges.

Development assistance is one of the most important tools we have to ensure that we are promoting economic growth, stability, and security in the developing world.

We are going to take a look at the corruption issue. We are going to take a look at whether we can get additional tools done.

We have spoken out in many regions and in many countries with resolutions from this committee that clearly go on the record as to our concerns.

We have taken on oversight of important foreign policy decisions.

This hearing is particularly important as we deal with corruption and how we can come together with greater administration action.

I just really wanted to thank the witnesses and thank the chairman, if I might, for this hearing.

So these are unstable situations. And in those types of situations, I do not think we should give up on the support for people inside the system who want to have a system based upon universal values.

I believe that and I was told by the U.S. Ambassador that Putin watches videos of Qaddafi.