Tom Cotton

“Madam President, I speak today in recognition of the bravery, courage, and valor of nearly 9,000 men and women in the Arkansas National Guard. Day in and day out, the heroes of our National Guard protect our communities and our homeland, stand at the ready to respond to natural disasters, and defend our freedom around the world.”

“Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the, no doubt, scintillating remarks of Senator Welch.”

“Mr. President, I speak today in support of Mr. Jay Clayton's nomination to be the next Director of National Intelligence. Earlier this month, Mr. Clayton appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he answered hundreds of written questions for the record and provided detailed testimony on his approach to serving in this new role.”

“Mr. President, Lindsey Graham was a self-made American original. Born in Central, SC, Lindsey grew up in a room behind his parents' bar and pool hall, where he worked to help the family make ends meet and earned the nickname ``Stinkball'' from its patrons because of his sense of humor and his irrepressible nature and his rascal streak, as he called it.”

“Mr. President, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was formed after the 9/11 attacks, understandably, to try to address some of the failures that led to those attacks.”

“Mr. President, section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA, is a critical national security tool. Well over half of every item in the President's daily brief is derived from section 702.”

“Mr. President, let me try to respond to that fog of misunderstanding and misleading statements. Section 702 does not surveil Americans. It is, to put it simply, about foreigners in foreign countries: so, say, an IRGC leader in Iran talking to one of his operatives in Lebanon; or a Russian in Moscow talking to a Russian in Mexico--all of whom are usually up to no good.”

“You bet there is, Mr. President. Mr. President, all of these ideas are totally unworkable and also beside the point. The Senator from Oregon has never voted for section 702.”

“Mr. President, let me say that I respect the vice chairman, and I appreciate our work together on the Intelligence Committee. In particular, I thank the vice chairman for his cooperation on last year's Intelligence Authorization Act to reduce the sprawling bureaucracy at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.”

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object--and I will object--first, let me just set the context here. The Senator from Oregon has always expressed hard-core ideological opposition to section 702, which a large majority of the Senate and the House, under Democratic and Republican hands, across Democratic and Republican administrations, has always deemed a vital national security tool.”

“Mr. President, again, let's be specific on what we are talking about here. The Senator from Oregon keeps talking about a short-term extension. I think most people with some common sense--the people sitting in our Gallery--would say: You know what; a 45-day extension is pretty short term when the House just voted for a 3-year extension.”

“Mr. President, I am ducking nothing. I am pointing out the Senator from Oregon's longstanding practice of distorting highly classified material in public. And one of these days, there are going to be some consequences, and it may be when I am chairman of this committee.”