Bob Menendez

It is very nice to see a Democrat in this day and age thinking strategically about the security of the United States.

Our policy has not changed.

I think we share that goal with Turkey, but I have not had in my conversations with the Turks the requirement that we take concerted action against Bashar al-Assad as the precondition necessarily for the Turks to have any greater role in…

We cannot provide a blank check to this and a future President because everything that is envisioned goes beyond this President.

I am looking beyond, so if we think an accommodation to fight ISIL is good, the aftermath of that in Iraq, in Syria, in Yemen, and elsewhere, in my view, is not so good.

We want to fight ISIL. We want to give the President the wherewithal to degrade and deter them.

Although this hearing is not focused on the administration's proposed authorization for the use of military force against ISIL, it is by nature an opportunity to probe the dynamics of our current anti-ISIL strategy that will inform our…

Religious freedom equities are an integral component of our U.S.-Uzbekistan Annual Bilateral Consultations.

Progress has been very slow, but Uzbekistan is aware of our priorities.

It is great to have another voice who is as equally as passionate about it.

It is pretty outrageous. And it is a country--Cyprus--that is part of the European Union.

The situation in Venezuela continues to deteriorate.

Putin took Crimea. He took Donetsk. He took Luhansk. He took Debaltseve.

I hope we can be vigorous about the part that if you want to get a negotiation for it, you cannot have your warships off the coast of the country.

What also has not worked for 50 years is the leverage of the international community that was all engaged with Cuba, and the Castro regime has had more political prisoners, more beatings, more repression, and no openings whatsoever.

At some point, I just hope that we can use the provisions of the law sooner rather than later.

Well, I am certainly not an advocate of what the Bush administration did.

I want to share my deep concerns about where we appear to be headed in our negotiations with Iran if those reports are true.

I hope that we will help the Ukrainians be able to defend themselves.

I think the deal was one-sided. The regime has not changed tactics.

The fact is that world history has taught us that no matter what the threat or challenge, dealing from a position of weakness is always a greater provocation than dealing from a position of strength.

The question is for how long, under what set of circumstances, and when you let Iran ratchet back up and, in essence, give some future President maybe no choices but to pursue a military action.

At some point, you have to give the Ukrainians the wherewithal to defend themselves.

The price has not changed his behavior.

The budget request for Central America focuses on the right priorities and is a very good start.