Ben Cardin

If I am confirmed, the issue of human rights and promotion of democracy will be a critical element of my mission.

I particularly mention Estonia, because Estonia has been a successful country in using the OSCE format in dealing with its Russian-speaking minority.

There appears to be a willingness to talk more openly about these issues, and Serbia is trying to become the leader; chair an office in the OSCE.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. What I will do is I will pose a question to all five that I will ask be answered for the record.

If confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources, I pledge to make the pursuit of good governance and transparency in the energy sector a central theme for the Energy Resources Bureau.

The Cardin-Lugar amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act set a new standard for transparency in extractive industries.

I would just underscore the issue of qualification of opposition candidates. That has been used in too many European countries as a way of trying to block opposition opportunities.

I strongly encourage the Committee to report out his nomination. He has my strong support.

I join Senator Mikulski in my enthusiastic support for his confirmation.

This is a family commitment.

Like Senator Durbin, we have a nonpartisan process to try to get the very best on the Federal bench.

I appreciate the concerns some in the administration have expressed that such measures might undermine the bilateral relationship between Russia and the United States.

It needs to cover people responsible for the range of very serious, the most serious human rights abuses in Russia.

What this bill does is it closes that escape valve. It says that if you have committed murder, if you are responsible for torture, you can't come here, you can't park your money here.

The United States should apply targeted pressure against those elements of the security apparatus in Russia that tortured and killed the very individuals who were trying to make the government accountable.

Mike McFaul is as qualified as anyone could be to serve as Ambassador to Russia.

Last week was a victory for the Russian people over authoritarianism, corruption, and repression.

I agree with Senator Corker that it should be lifted, and it will only hurt ourselves if we don't lift it.

I strongly urge rapid passage of this legislation, which has forced Russian officials to take this case more seriously.

We need to be engaged on all fronts, including not least focusing on supporting the efforts of Russians to strengthen democracy and the rule of law.

Mr. Putin's reputation is much more concerning, problematic, from our point of view.

It's going to be more hard-line on the human rights advancements and that it even puts more of a spotlight in importance on how we deal internationally with the human rights dimension.

How do we institutionalize the standards for human rights?

I think we are in agreement on many of those issues.

We should at least use the visa applications and look at asset freezes for human rights violators.