Lindsey Graham

The safety of our Air Force members and their families is our number one priority.

Would it be in our national security interest to open up transportation routes in the north to get supplies and equipment into Afghanistan without having to send everything through Pakistan?

This is a critical area for us regarding Afghanistan.

Do you agree with me that the counterterrorism component that exists today will be needed past 2014 to make sure al Qaeda and Taliban do not regenerate?

It is in our national security interest to have a political relationship with the Afghan Government and people; do you agree with that?

Do you agree it's in our national security interest to have a military relationship with the Afghan Government, security forces, and people post-2014?

Would you agree with me that if we had such an enduring relationship, it would be a signal to Iran that needs to be sent?

It does. It matters a lot, because that's the place where the attacks of September 11 were planned; is that correct?

I think it's just completely brain-dead for us even to consider this, and we're not going to let it happen.

Do you agree that it is now time for the Pakistani Government to step up and make a decision as to who they are and what they want to be?

Do you agree with me that training of the Afghan army will be a need that goes past 2014?

Do you agree with me that we need to embed some American soldiers in the future to make sure the Afghan army develops in a mature professional fashion?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is it for Iraq to end well, become stable, and not be a satellite state of Iran?

We would take the finest military in the history of mankind and gut it, is that right?

Do you agree with me it would be in our national security interest to leave behind a military footprint that would have American air power available to the Afghan security forces and counterterrorism units to suppress the Taliban as far as…

Do you agree with me that the Iranians are trying to develop a nuclear program, not for peaceful purposes?

Please realize, to the committee and those who are listening, that how it ends does matter.

The ultimate security is partnerships; partnerships with people in the region who, if they had the capability to marry up with their will, they would fight back against these radical elements.

If the Iraqi Government requested additional troops to remain in 2012 in Iraq, do you think it would be wise for us to agree to that request?

Killing bin Laden was a seminal moment in the war on terror.

I think it would be a gross miscalculation on the Iranian part to believe that you can be involved in killing Americans and nothing comes your way.

One way to defeat radical Islam is to provide an education to young women and young men to give them the tools to fight back.

A security agreement with Afghanistan that provided for a continuing relationship and some kind of joint facilities and so on for training, for counterterrorism, and so on beyond 2014 I think would be very much in our interest.

The Afghan and Iraqi people have paid a very heavy price fighting for their freedom.

I believe that General Petraeus and all under his command--Admiral McRaven, all of your forces--have done a fantastic job of going from defense to offense.