Quotes from Tom Cotton

The West has been calling for years for the forces of moderate Islam to stand up to the very small percentage but very large number of radical Muslims all around the world. When countries - the U.A.E. or Egypt or Jordan - do that, we need to highlight it, we need to celebrate it, and we need to continue to encourage it.

It's the job of the president to negotiate, but it's the job of Congress to approve.

We should have imposed new sanctions in 2013 and maintained the strength of our negotiating position, which is what brought Iran to the table in the first place.

It's humiliating for Barack Obama and, therefore, the United States to have American sailors held hostage during his final State of the Union.

What I can do as the member of the United States Senate is try to do everything I can to keep America safe.

There's been a lot of disappointments with the Iraqi army, no doubt about that. Some units have performed well, especially their special operations units. But a lot of their units have not.

Men are simple creatures. It doesn't take much to please us. The problem is women.

The nuclear deal with Iran is fundamentally flawed.

Obviously, the United States military can destroy any of Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

I do not take my obligations as a senator lightly.

Unlike President Obama, I would say that I support the long-standing bipartisan post-war belief that American global strength and leadership secures our national-security interests, and it also promotes order and stability in the world. And it gives us immense influence in the world and deters our adversaries and reassures our allies.

Our enemies and allies alike must know that aggressors will pay an unspeakable price for challenging the United States. The best way to impose that price is global military dominance.

I think it's important that the Republican Party remain the home of conservatives and that the best way to advance conservative principles is to elect Republicans up and down the ballot.

I spent several months patrolling Al Dora district in Baghdad in 2006 with the 101st Airborne. It's a tough neighborhood. There's a lot of militias operating there, including a lot of Shiite militias, which are backed by Iran.

Our national-security strategy must drive our military budget, rather than the budget setting our strategy.

I was in Iraq in the worst period, 2006, but from 2006 to 2008, and especially through 2011, the American military and the government of Iraq made huge strides in making that country a source of stability with a relatively representative government that was seeking pluralistic engagement from all the factions within the government.

It's clearly the intent of the Islamic State to strike us here in the United States. And that's why we have to go on offense in the war against the Islamic State to fight them where they are before they fight us here in the United States.

The Congress plays a central role in our constitutional structure.

Most of who's left in the administration now are all these yes men and fanboys who were van drivers or press flacks for Barack Obama in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2008.

The claim that too many criminals are being jailed, that there is over-incarceration, ignores an unfortunate fact: For the vast majority of crimes, a perpetrator is never identified or arrested, let alone prosecuted, convicted and jailed.

Any deal that's not approved by Congress won't be accepted by Congress. Not now and certainly not in the future.

Vladimir Putin is decisive. He's committed to victory, and he now has aircraft and surface-to-air missiles and main battle tanks in Syria.

What the United States needs to do at this point is reaffirm our commitment that Assad must go and that Iran and Russia cannot be granted a sphere of influence in Syria, and that we will not sit down at the negotiating table to help broker Assad's victory in this fight.

My heart goes out, as does every American, when I see the videotape of Jason Rezaian and Amir Hekmati and Saeed Abedini coming back to their families.