Hillary Clinton

I want to focus on this because I think it's a fair and important question.

We were combating the proliferation of weapons.

That's my memory, yes.

There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.

The United States played a major role in the first election that the Libyan people had in 51 years.

Congress needs to do its job.

Of course not, Congressman, and I appreciate your going through the highlights of the very comprehensive report that the House Armed Services Committee did on this.

I did not primarily conduct business on email with officials in our government.

Ninety to 95 percent of my work-related emails were in the State system. If they wanted to see them, they would certainly have been able to do so.

I supported doing what we could to support our European and Arab partners in their effort on a humanitarian basis, a strategic basis, to prevent Qadhafi from launching and carrying out mass massacres.

I didn't at the time, no.

I think greater funding and responsiveness would be helpful.

And I did not, Congressman.

What I did not and do not believe any Secretary should do was to substitute my judgment from thousands of miles away for the judgment of the security professionals.

We set into motion a policy that was on the right side of history, on the right side of our values, on the right side of our strategic interests in the region.

I think it was the State Department's efforts to try to fill some of those gaps.

It should, I think, inspire us to look for ways to get host countries to permit there to be more dedicated security forces, well-enough armed and trained, to be really a force to protect our compounds and our other facilities.

The total elimination of risk is a nonstarter for U.S. diplomacy.

Our nation has a long history of bipartisan cooperation on foreign policy and national security.

I was in favor of the United States joining with our European allies and our Arab partners.

Well, Congressman, I was the Secretary of State. My job was to conduct the diplomacy.

There was no recommendation based on any of the assessments, not from our State Department experts, not from the intelligence community, that we should abandon either Benghazi or Tripoli.

We have learned the hard way, when America is absent, especially from unstable places, there are consequences.

Nothing was marked classified at the time I sent or received it.

I thanked him for his very strong support because he made it absolutely clear that everyone was supposed to be doing all they could.