Claire McCaskill

First, do you oppose lifting the current sanctions on Russia?

I will look forward to your assessment, and I know we talked in my office about the drug cartels and what big role they have in the people showing up seeking asylum.

I certainly know that my office and the other Senators' offices are always available to try to help.

I believe that whistleblowers are essential to good government, and I have made it one of my missions to expand and enhance protections for them.

I hope to hear from you today that you understand that our fight against violent extremism is not singular in its focus, and that you will fight against any narrative that encourages committing crimes against any Americans based on hate or…

Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential election represent the most recent expression of Moscow's longstanding desire to undermine the U.S.-led liberal democratic order.

Almost 50 percent of those turned themselves in.

We are not here to participate in a partisan or a political exercise; we are here to fulfill the Senate's constitutional obligation as part of the orderly transfer of power to a new Administration.

I think that we all anticipate that you will need it in your next job, where you will have the responsibility and the obligation to speak truth to the Commander-in-Chief, who has used some of his most extreme and divisive rhetoric about…

Not only have we cooperated in a productive way on this Subcommittee, but the Senate as a whole affirmed the importance of our investigation by voting unanimously.

Only time will tell if this action is an end to Backpage's role in online sex trafficking of children or just a cheap publicity stunt.

I think people do not realize--I am aware of a situation recently where because of the electronic enhancements, we were able to stop someone from coming to America.

In your responses to the questionnaire and in our meeting before this hearing, you said that one of your greatest strengths as a leader is 'speaking truth to power.' General Kelly, I cannot tell you how that was music to my ears.

This investigation is about understanding how criminals systematically use online platforms to transform normal American teenagers into sex slaves.

We subpoenaed records from banks, accounting firms, and court proceedings.

I certainly would invite you to stay and listen to the testimony of the second panel.

If this hearing stands for anything, it stands for the fact that congressional oversight matters and investigations matter.

I will continue to do everything in my power to protect young women--and young men--from being exploited and assaulted.

Chairman Portman and I would not go quietly into the night and simply give up in the face of repeated roadblocks.

The Senate recognized that our investigation into the market leader in selling sex online is a legitimate and important use of the Subcommittee's authority.

Yet, according to NCMEC, suspected child sex trafficking has increased by 846 percent in the last 5 years.

I welcome a working relationship with you. We have worked together before on a Subcommittee, and I know we have many areas of agreement and just a few of disagreement.

The budget we now have annually on border security equals the combined budgets of FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, plus the entire New…

It is very important that people stand up when their country calls, and I appreciate your willingness to do that.

On border security, I think that Senator McCain covered a lot of this.