Ben Cardin

NATO, which is indisputably the greatest military alliance in modern history

A results-oriented, but tough-minded and principled policy toward the Russian Federation

I do not really know how we can expect Europe to take a strong stand against Russian interference in U.S. elections if the message is so muddled coming out of the United States.

I really do hope--and I am proud to see that some of our colleagues are moving in that direction.

NATO is not an act of charity. NATO is an act of self-interest and self-defense.

I remain committed to my original line of answer, and that is that everything Russia does is connected.

I think shocking is how far they believe now they can get away with this in our nation, as witnessed in what happened in the election.

I do believe that we had an opportunity to give Ukraine a better capability to defend itself in the Donbass.

I believe that every Nation has a right to defend itself.

We saw that in Montenegro parliamentary elections, where they tried to disrupt it so that Montenegro would not be eligible to join NATO.

Russia's using democratic institutions to try to undermine democratic institutions.

We have the European Deterrence Initiative as an effort to show, from a military point of view, we are prepared to stand up to Russia.

I certainly agree with that assessment, that this committee can play a major role.

We should proceed with caution and ensure that we are doing everything to protect our relationship with our European allies.

I do not want to leave you with the impression this morning that I do not support engaging with Russia. I do.

Let us get to the bottom of what Russia did in our election through a bipartisan commission.

Do not do anything without consulting our European allies first.

Put the onus on Russia. Do not give away anything for free.

We imposed sanctions. And we, of course, have supported Ukraine.

We have worked to isolate Russia. We kicked Russia out of the G8, returning that forum to the G7.

Yesterday, Senator Graham and I, along with other members, filed the Russian Sanction Review Act.

I was pleased to see Ambassador Haley's comments, supported by the White House, that the sanctions in Russia will remain.

I want to say just one word that concerned me, with President Trump trying to drive a moral equivalency between the murderous conduct by Mr. Putin and activities in our own country.

We are the committee that authorizes force. We have a lot at stake as to how we can protect our country against the actions that Russia has taken.

After the attack on our country by Russia, and our election system, there was a strong desire to hold hearings.