I believe that the President has made an extraordinary choice in nominating Justice Keenan.

I am privileged to join my colleague from Virginia, Senator Mark Warner, here today for the purpose of introducing to this Committee Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara M. Keenan.

It is important to the people of Virginia and to the proper functioning of this court that this vacancy be filled as expeditiously as possible.

Sanctions are both highly effective and necessary.

Our aspirations should not be deterred by the different roads that we have to take to achieve them.

Sanctions also deny the legitimacy the regime is seeking desperately.

Though positive change in all areas will have to come from the inside, I believe the outside world can make a difference in enabling that change and making it sustainable.

The new constitution will provide military control, as Dr. Williams has said, over the society.

I am not sanguine about early progress, but what has been done in the past months and this hearing itself are important beginnings and should be continued and expanded.

I think we should be thinking of all of this in terms of building for a future government that will be more open and liberal.

I think if we're going to exploit that fluidity we have to think beyond the process itself, and think a little bit more creatively about how to exploit the changes that are going to take place within the system.

The 2010 elections will only bring legitimacy and stability to the country if they are broad-based and include all key stakeholders.