Lindsey Graham

America is at her best, I believe, when she is doing things that are right.

As politics change in this country, Senator Leahy and I are going to make sure the commitment of this committee does not change.

I hope to extend my thanks--to you, to this Congress, to the United States of America--not only for fighting this disease, but for ending it--once and for all.

PEPFAR is not only a transformative global health program, but it is also an outstanding expression of American diplomacy reflecting the enduring compassion of the American people.

Now is not the time to back off.

I have tried along with Senator Leahy to shine a light on what foreign assistance does for the United States and the world.

The AIDS epidemic is not over. And America's continued leadership is critical.

Foreign assistance is at risk.

It is a national security effort in my view to stabilize developing parts of the world.

I want you to tell me what the number is. I want to tell my colleagues you have X dollars today and you are going to have Y dollars tomorrow, and this is what it means.

Today I rise to recognize 2015 as the Year of the Military Diver, to honor the hard work and sacrifice of divers from all of our Nation's service branches. Within north Florida's Second Congressional District is Naval Support Activity…

I thank the whole subcommittee.

Well, thank you all. It is probably the best hearing I have attended in a long time.

In 2 hours, we are going to vote to cut this account in half.

Life flourishes and people try and people exhibit kindness and compassion and they want to take care of their families.

Taking money away from development and diplomacy and putting them into defense where we have strong levels of resources would be a significant mistake.

This Congress has the power to plot our course to continued global leadership by robustly funding diplomacy and development, and thus enabling smart power.

If you scrimp on the development and the diplomacy, you are going to end up buying more ammunition.

Thank you, Mr. Graham, for your confidence in the people of Congo and for learning more about what can be done.

We need a sophisticated grounding on this ideology, a world view so different than our own, so that our efforts, in diplomacy, development and defense, can be successful.

You have got to have a window of safety.

I can tell you firsthand that U.S. diplomatic and financial investments in Congo are working.

The foreign assistance account is 1 percent of the Federal budget.

So the reason I asked that question, for a small security investment, relatively small, not thousands of boots on the ground, but sort of in a mentor, training role, we can enhance everything you are trying to do in the private sector.

Sequestration would be very, very harmful.