Chuck Hagel

This is a huge issue that continues to loom large over our future and our security, and it will have, if confirmed, a lot of my attention.

I support an Army that is sized according to the defense strategy and the mission requirements that support that strategy.

Accountability is a primary responsibility of any institution or organization.

The President needs to have a Secretary of Defense in whom he has trust, who will give him unvarnished advice.

I think Syria, the outcome there has far more important consequences for America's national interests than Libya.

I have made it clear I share Leon Panetta's and our Service Chiefs' serious concerns about the impact sequestration would have on our Armed Forces.

Energy security is central to national security.

I believe that a political transition should remain our goal.

unilateral sanctions against Iran, "are exactly the wrong approach," and that, "they are the worst thing we can do would be to try to isolate Iran".

I believe that the Syrian Opposition Council's fundamental motivation to end Assad's rule is consistent with U.S. interests.

The reason that they didn't is because they were involved in negotiations with the Russians in the U.N.

If confirmed, I will work to identify appropriate exchanges and interactions to assist Taiwan's defense capabilities.

If I am confirmed, as I noted in my opening comments, I would see this relationship, Senator, as a partnership. I'm going to need your help. I'm going to need your advice. I'm going to need your collaboration.

I agree that our country faces a spectrum of threats and concur that strategic dispersal is a critical element in reducing risk.

Today, the United States must be able to project naval power globally, with a strategic emphasis on rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region and maintaining presence in and around the Middle East.

Cyber, I believe, represents as big a threat to the security of this country as any one specific threat.

I fully supported the withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by December 2011 in accordance with the November 2008 U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement.

I've never opposed military action against Iran.

Our world today is totally different than it was 12 years ago.

It isn't just the dollars that affect this, but it's the planning, it's the flexibility.

If confirmed, you have my commitment to look at the Department's reliance on the use of contractors in contingency operations and to assess what core capabilities should be retained in DOD.

It will be the same that Secretary Panetta and, before him, Secretary Gates initiated in closer collaboration between the two agencies.

Those submarines, as you note, are cornerstones to that security.

I agree with the President that longstanding norms guiding state behavior, including the law of armed conflict, also apply in cyberspace.

I support the President's policy on Iran of prevention, not containment.