"If confirmed, I will continue to cultivate my existing relationships while pursuing additional opportunities and partnerships that will surely prove beneficial to our efforts."
"These are historic times and difficult times. However, amidst the many challenges that exist reside opportunities."
"I think it will, sir. I think, certainly, again, those forces have been outlined by General Mattis as what he needs to accomplish the goals and objectives that he's laid out."
"General Austin always had a firm view that we needed--18,000 to 20,000 is what he first said."
"Would you agree with me that the number of troops in any theater is not an end, but it is a means to an end..."
"I cannot, in good conscience, vote to continue this operation."
"I can't think of a worse outcome for America than for us to lose in Afghanistan after a dozen years of fighting."
"If we don't get this residual force right to continue the momentum, Afghanistan will fall apart quicker than Iraq."
"In your judgment, are the Afghan security forces on track to assume the lead responsibility for security in Afghanistan, starting this spring?"
"Going forward, there is no intent from a planning perspective that the Guard would revert back to just a pure Reserve function."
"In making sure that the Guard maintains that desired state going forward, that makes things like retention and the training of guardsmen and reservists--ongoing training--absolutely critical."
"The one thing that they were most concerned about was effects on training, the backing up of assigned training slots at various training facilities."