Carl Levin

The decision of the President to set that July 2011 date to begin to reduce the presence of American forces

Do you both support the 30,000 troop surge, and do you also support the setting of that July 2011 date by the President?

The failed Christmas Day airline bombing reminded the counterterrorism community that al Qaeda is not an organization limited to the rugged terrain of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but is a global terrorist organization with an insatiable…

EUCOM's forward stationed forces and bases are critical elements of U.S. national security and diplomatic strategy.

As NATO continues its work on a new Strategic Concept, do you see any consensus developing on the future role, if there is one, for nuclear weapons in NATO?

Senator Levin supported it. We required a bid. We passed a law that said this will be bid.

I think it's just an unconscionable policy.

I do believe that Senator Sessions is correct. I think the CERP funding has been authorized at least for the reintegration piece; it's not just for construction.

Much depends on the ability and willingness of the Iraqis themselves to preserve hard-fought gains.

Great service, however, always comes with great sacrifice.

I think your testimony was not only eloquent, but it was personal.

This statement of yours in my judgment was a profile in leadership this morning.

Would you take a look at that as something we can do in the interim here to indicate a greater sense of fairness about this issue.

I agree with what President Obama said in his State of the Union address, that we should repeal this discriminatory policy.

We should end this discriminatory policy because ending it will contribute to our military's effectiveness.

I believe ending the policy would improve our military's capability and reflect our commitment to equal opportunity.

Supporters of this policy argue that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would damage unit cohesion and morale, crucial factors in building combat effectiveness.

I hope it is--the sooner the better, as far as I'm concerned.

The long anticipated 2009 QDR Report was also submitted on Monday with the Department's fiscal year 2011 budget submission.

The budget request continues the defense reforms begun last year to rebalance the force toward the military capabilities necessary to prevail in today's conflicts.

This is, and the report is explicit, a wartime QDR.

We are prepared to continue to work with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen to ensure DOD is able to continue providing support to this critical humanitarian disaster response effort.

The fiscal year 2011 budget request for the Department of Defense includes $549 billion for the base budget and $159 billion for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That's simply inexcusable and our NATO allies must do more to close the gap in trainers.

It seems to me this is part and parcel.