This body and, indeed, most of the headlines out of the foreign policy community often overlook our own hemisphere and, by extension, our closest neighbors and some of our most important allies.

The challenge is not just, in my mind, an economic one, but it is the influence that they extend undermining the very essence of principles that we want to see countries build.

I am glad we are keeping the subcommittee active, exploring the myriad pressing issues that we have in our own hemisphere even as we are challenged by events elsewhere in the world.

I have always viewed a corollary to that is the better business practices that U.S. businesses bring.

I led in the Senate the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2014 to prevent Hezbollah and associated entities from gaining access to international financial institutions.

I worry that there are some views that we can head in a direction in which we can dramatically reduce that foreign assistance and what flows from it.

I would hate for any of us to leave this hearing with the impression that somehow now or in the future, private businesses and corporations could take the place of U.S. foreign aid in development overseas.

I appreciate it.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak in opposition to the confirmation of Jay Clayton as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Just 100 days into the Trump administration, the truth is becoming crystal clear to the American…

As the architect of the Iran sanctions, I can tell you that that brought Iran to the table.

I mean, their interference has been almost purely ideological, driven by this phobia of the Muslim Brotherhood.