Ash Carter

I've told Iraqi leaders that while the United States is open to supporting Iraq more than we already are, we must see a greater commitment from all parts of the Iraqi Government.

The current drawdown plan uses a time-phased approach for the withdrawal of United States forces.

We will not allow the Russian Federation to gain a significant military advantage through its violation of an arms control treaty.

Our approach has been... to try to find a political exit for Bashar Assad rather than a United States-led military exit.

We are trying to stick up for the principle that Iraq is a single, unitary, multi-sectarian state.

I believe that a stable, multi-sectarian Iraq is the only way to ensure the long-term defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Ramadi needs to be retaken, and the way to do it is to have a force under the competent command and control of Iraqi Security Forces commanders.

Vladimir Putin's conduct there has had the opposite of whatever effect he thought it might have in terms of attracting Ukraine in the direction of Russia.

We have serious concerns with Iranian malign activities outside of the nuclear issue.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of that because that is mostly a matter for the European Union (EU) rather than the United States.

Congress could also help mitigate the long-term impacts of this underfunding by authorizing another round of BRAC as requested in the President's Budget.

Yes, I am concerned about the risk the Department of Defense (DOD) is forced to accept in global infrastructure maintenance.

It deserves funding. And the reason for that is that we need more fuel efficient jet engines in the future.

I think it is fair to say we are late to the recognition of that, but I do think that we have the recognition.

We cannot afford to have a gap, and just to scope out the issue as a whole, these engines that power some of our rocket boosters that take our satellites--national security satellites into space are manufactured in Russia.

I ask Congress to support the entirety of this budget and end the deep, indiscriminate cuts that sequestration will impose.

The only way we're going to get out of the wilderness of sequestration is if we work together.

A nickel and dime approach to defense, as you say, is not the right one. We need a longer horizon than that.

The big influencer, if there is anything that will influence Russian behavior, is the combination of economic sanctions and the fall in oil prices.

We are still the world's greatest fighting force.

I think that the amount of money we have requested and the manner in which we have requested it meets the national security strategy of the United States.

National security is bigger than our Department and today's world because of the complexity of the threats.

It does appear that the Russian--clearly Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine are preparing for another round of military action that would be inconsistent with the Minsk Agreement.

Letting that happen would be unwise and unsafe for our national defense, over both the short and long term.

We need our partners in the Middle East to step up and do more.