I am very heartened by your point that this is not a partisan issue.

the first person I heard raise it in Congress was Senator McCain, the Chairman of this committee.

finally, I want to ask unanimous consent to move Adam Szubin, who has been nominated to be Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes. He has also been waiting almost a year. He is somebody who Senator Shelby, chairman of the…

Again, it is disappointing that the senior Senator from Alabama isn't here to talk about his concerns about Adam Szubin and why he is still on hold in the Banking Committee and that we haven't heard from the majority leader in the Senate…

Again, I am hopeful the junior Senator from Texas is going to do what he should have done all along, which is lift his hold and allow both the Ambassadors to Sweden and Norway and Ambassador Shannon to move forward. ____________________

I am joining my colleague, Senator Klobuchar, to talk not just about these two positions of Ambassadors to Sweden and Norway but also about some of the other 27 nominees who deal with national security issues. As Senator Klobuchar said…

Again, it is very disappointing that the objection has been made, this time on behalf of the Senator from Alabama, who is here, so it is disappointing that he is not on the floor to talk about what his objections to Adam Szubin are. I…

I know my time is expired, Mr. Chairman, but if I could just ask him to follow up on the other part of my question, which is, Are we contributing at all, in terms of direct assistance, to a counter-ISIL, a counter-Taliban message to the…

Do the people of Afghanistan distinguish between the Taliban and ISIS?

I am here to join my colleagues because I share the concerns they have expressed so eloquently about the failure of this body to act on the nominees whom they have been talking about. But the other nominees, particularly the 27 national…

Again, that is disappointing. Again, it is unfortunate that somebody who has served so honorably in both Republican and Democratic administrations is being held up for reasons totally unrelated to his qualifications and to the job he would…

I think your point in your testimony about the need to provide a long-term commitment to Afghanistan that people can count on, so they don't feel like we're going to be leaving at the end of each year, is very important.