Jim Webb

This past year and a half, from my perspective here in the Senate, has resulted in the potential for much stronger relations between South Korea and Japan.

There's been some concern over here in the Congress, and I'm one of those who has articulated this concern...

We abhor those attacks, and we called on North Korea to refrain from all such provocative actions in the future.

But I think you would agree that there are differences between responses generated directly from your office...

It's a matter of real concern when we're trying to figure out what the exact policies are in our executive branch...

It's a little disconcerting when Members of the Senate write very specific policy-oriented letters... and receive a response from your office.

I wanted to come down, first, to express my best wishes and congratulations to the two nominees.

I think what we want to try to accomplish is to have a base or military presence that makes sense.

There's no real indication that the official in charge is accountable for what is in the letter.

I'm clearly going to support them, and I wish them the best in carrying out their responsibilities.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It's difficult to say how quickly they will move forward with the succession process, but I think our advice to Pyongyang would be that, if they want the succession process to move forward smoothly, they should focus on responsible…

Well, at a time when we have had these sanctions in place, Beijing has made well more than $5 billion in direct investment without asking for any sort of political change inside the country.

We have urged Burma's senior leadership to abide by its own commitment to fully comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874.

You would agree, would you not, that sanctions from the outside affect the ability of a country to evolve economically and in other ways?

We haven't had an ambassador to Burma since 1990, how do you feel about this in terms of affecting your ability to engage the Government and the diplomatic representatives of other countries in Burma?

I would strongly agree with your summation on that.

A key part of your role as defined by the JADE Act is to consult with regional partners and others to coordinate policy.

All parties have good reasons to make concessions. None of them can afford to watch Burma descend further into isolation and desperation and wait to act until another generation of its people is lost.

I think they realize, as we have, as I said in my statement, that pure engagement, pure pressure is not necessarily getting the results we want.

I think, frankly, where Burma is today--I mean, ASEAN recognizes that Burma is an outlier, that Burma is somewhat of an embarrassment to the organization.

This is an absolutely critical issue. This is a core concern of ours.

These five countries present an opportunity, an almost unique opportunity, in terms of the ability for the United States to make a big difference in support for democratic reform.

What type of model do you see for Burma's political and economic transition?

If confirmed, I will do my best to continue to strengthen relations between the United States and each of these five countries.