Ben Cardin

You indicate that we cannot have any safe havens.

If we have unity and resolve and leadership, we can defeat ISIL.

I have full confidence that no matter what ISIL throws at us at home or abroad, our democracy, our values, and our humanity will prevail.

I applaud your willingness to step back and have this committee look at the big picture.

It is my hope today that our witnesses can help us understand what lessons we have learned from our country's long history in countering terrorism...

While ISIL is the single greatest terrorist threat to our homeland security and the security of our allies worldwide...

So if you are talking about how individual communities should pay for that, pretty tough to tell Warwick...

The wolf is already at the door. This is not a hypothetical for us.

Unless somebody wants to repeal the law of thermal expansion, the sea level is going to rise.

What happened in Flint was absolutely outrageous.

Obviously, we are interested in clean, safe drinking water, but there is also an economic impact here.

If you do not make those investments, you are compromising America's security.

How you deal with the deficit is just as important as the deficit.

I do not like deficits, particularly when you are wealthy enough and strong enough to be able to pay for it.

There are two major factors that we can control, and that is how we spend money and how we raise money.

I want to welcome both of our witnesses here.

That is an excellent point, because the way that these agreements are being lobbied on Capitol Hill very much underscores the point that you are raising.

I think that is a huge diplomatic effort that we could do.

We attempted at one time--the Chairman was active on this--to look at 123 agreements and say, look, we understand there is world technology.

I can envision that we are going to be approached by a Gulf state saying, look, we think we need a civil nuclear program, and because of our region it is important that we have the ability to enrich internally.

The challenge is you run into countries--and I will mention again Pakistan that has an internal need.

So we really could, I think, develop international gold standards and not get into just the lowest common denominator.

We do have tools. I mean, we do have the United Nations and the IAEA and the protocols and the potential for Security Council sanctions against those who violate those protocols.

I think this has been a very helpful hearing.

The other area that I mentioned in my opening statement is the absence of Russia that is very much believed to be part of the status of our current relationship with Russia, the problems in Ukraine and elsewhere.