I share the chairman's concern about the fate of so many minority communities in the region.

Well, you know, they say sunshine is the best disinfectant, and I think I concur with the chairman's.

I like the title of this hearing, Mr. Chairman, because I think it actually accurately captures the ambiguity, the mixed feelings one might have if one were a member of a religious minority in terms of the current situation in Syria.

But let me ask you two questions. One is in making that recommendation to the United States Government...

I was more hopeful about the outcomes in Libya in terms of pluralism and respect for minority rights.

Well, I was in Egypt before the revolution and after the revolution, and many of the same arguments could have been used about Egypt during the revolution.

It seems to me that the United States must speak out about that to--and without doing something ham-handed, try to offer its protection to those minority communities.

I wish the world were that black and white. I wish our choices were that simple. They are not.

I am not sure the intervention in Lebanon under the Ronald Reagan administration was such a wise policy in retrospect.

There was a difference between the Ba'athist philosophy that governed both in Iraq and Syria with respect to minority rights.

This country is sick of war and does not want to be sucked into another one.

I remember when you testified, Ambassador Yamamoto, in 2006, you talked about being at a crossroads and the hopes for change.

I think the frustration being expressed here is that it has now been 12 years since the tragedy of 9/11 and we seem not to have resolved this problem.

We don't want you to die, Mr. Chairman, but we certainly want to take over, and I do make that pledge.

Given his pedigree, he's been referred to as a moderate, but he certainly has impeccable credentials from the revolutionary point of view.

it is implicitly an acknowledgement that we are not doing it and can't do it.

I thank my colleague, and I thank the distinguished chairman of the committee as well. I want to talk about the FITARA bill, the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, that I am a coauthor of with the distinguished chairman…

I am pleased to cosponsor this bipartisan amendment, which would prohibit the Defense Department from circumventing Congressional intent with regard to Russian state arms dealer Rosoboronexport. This amendment prohibits the Department of…

I am pleased to offer a simple bipartisan amendment with Representatives Wolf and Schneider to expand an existing report required by Section 1242 of the bill. The amendment clarifies that the report ought to include information on how the…

They must know from the halls of Congress to the Executive Branch that they are not being abandoned.

I have long believed that the U.S.-Egyptian relationship... is a critical one in the Middle East.

I am not going to put myself in your position, but there is no basis for this conviction. And we must not concede that.

the tolerance for this here in the United States Congress on a bipartisan basis is next to nil

These verdicts are a huge impediment in our relationship, in our ability to partner with the Egyptian Government.

The U.S. law does circumscribe the $1.3 billion of military aid to Egypt.