Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Cotton’s Opening Remarks at the Confirmation Hearing of John Ratcliffe for CIA Director  Washington, D.C. — Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today delivered the below opening statement at the confirmation hearing of John Ratcliffe to serve as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  Welcome everyone to this hearing on President Trump’s nomination of John Ratcliffe to be our next director of the Central Intelligence... Read More

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today asked the Senate to pass a resolution condemning the Biden administration’s blanket commutations of 37 death row inmates. Senate Democrats blocked the resolution, illustrating that they continue to support Joe Biden’s soft-on-crime policies, denying justice to the victims and their families.   Senator Cotton: For almost four years now, Joe Biden has subjected our country to economic misery, uncontrolled crime, and international humiliation. And now, on the... Read More

Senator Cotton: Last week, Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 convicted criminals—including drug dealers, fraudsters, and corrupt public officials. These are not sympathetic figures—these are individuals who stole from the poor and poisoned the sick. They tore families apart and menaced communities. They were sent to jail; they belong in jail.  With this action, Joe Biden didn’t just reward 1,500 criminals, he robbed hundreds of thousands of victims of the closure and justice they... Read More

Reserving the right to object—this bill is a threat to U.S. national security and an insult to basic fairness and the principle of equality before the law. This is the biggest giveaway to the liberal press in American history—the so-called PRESS Act would turn reporters into a protected class—free to hold, share, and publish highly classified and dangerous information that no other American is allowed to possess. Passage of this bill would turn the United States Senate into the active accomplice... Read More

Senator Cotton: The state of Israel is facing the deadliest threat to its existence in a generation. To its South, Israel is waging a war of survival against Hamas terrorists, who slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and abducted more than 250 men, women, and children. To its North, Hezbollah—the most armed terrorist organization in the world—is menacing Israeli towns and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes. And just last month, Iran launched more than 300 ballistic missiles and attack drones at... Read More

Thank you, Miles, for the kind introduction. It’s a privilege to be back at the Hudson Institute to discuss the most profound foreign policy challenge facing our nation. The People’s Republic of China under the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party is the greatest single threat to the United States in our modern history. Few men understand this better than your first speaker, Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Hudson’s own, Miles Yu. Thank you both for your leadership on the issue.... Read More

I recently returned from a trip to El Salvador, where I met President Nayib Bukele and saw first-hand the effects of his remarkable transformation of that country from the most dangerous nation in our hemisphere to one of the safest. As we drove around San Salvador, the images were commonplace yet extraordinary. Children played soccer in the parks. Young women jogged at twilight. Couples dined outdoors. Commonplace because one should expect to see such scenes in any decent community.... Read More

Senator Cotton: Mr. Chew let's cut straight to the chase. Is TikTok under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party? Shou Zi Chew: No, Senator, we are part of that business. Senator Cotton: So, you can say that your parent ByteDance is subject to the 2017 National Security Law, which requires Chinese companies to turn over information to the Chinese government and conceal it from the rest of the world. You can see that, correct? You conceded it earlier. Shou Zi Chew: Senator, any company that... Read More

After Barack Obama selected Joe Biden to be Vice President in 2008, one newspaper columnist labelled him, “Tehran’s favorite senator.” Well, Tehran’s favorite Senator has now become Tehran’s favorite president. Since taking office, Joe Biden has taken every opportunity to enrich and empower Iran and its terrorist proxies. There is perhaps no greater single example of this than his obscene coddling of the Iranian-backed Yemini terrorist organization known as the Houthis. These barbarians with... Read More

Since Joe Biden took office, Iran and its proxies have attacked American troops in the Middle East at least one hundred and thirty-five times. Let me say that again: one hundred and thirty-five attacks on American troops since January 2021.   What’s worse is that fifty-two of those attacks have happened in the last month, since Hamas conducted its murderous rampage and its ongoing war against Israel.  These rocket and drone attacks against American bases in Iraq and Syria caused at least... Read More

Last month, Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists slaughtered over 30 Americans and 1,400 Israelis. These depraved savages raped women, murdered children, and executed entire families, burning some of them alive. The dead are still being identified and families are still grieving unbelievable heartbreak. Yet, over the weekend, former president Barack Obama discovered complexity and ambiguity where there is none in these attacks. He said that we “have to admit nobody’s hands are clean, that all of us... Read More

Three weeks ago, Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists murdered 33 Americans and 1,400 Israelis in the deadliest terrorist attack since September 11, 2001. These depraved savages killed more Jews in a single day than any time since the Holocaust. Israel is now at war and on the verge of what could be its bloodiest battle in a generation. In this struggle, Israel is not only fighting Hamas in Gaza: it is fighting a confederation of Iranian trained, funded, and armed terrorist organizations. From the... Read More

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Grenada. This short and largely overlooked conflict is one of the most successful American military interventions in history. In just four days, President Ronald Reagan toppled an anti-American regime, rolled back communism in the hemisphere, and saved American lives. In the years that followed we built a strong, genuine, and enduring partnership with the people of Grenada. But this success was far from certain. It was only possible... Read More

Ten days ago, as Israeli families celebrated the Sabbath and Jewish holiday, Iran’s terrorist proxy Hamas launched a barbaric surprise attack against Israel, killing at least 1,400 Israelis and 30 Americans. Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israeli cities and then infiltrated communities to massacre mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since American GIs liberated the final concentration camps of the Third Reich. Hamas terrorists raped... Read More

Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the Battle of Mogadishu. At this moment thirty years ago, nearly one hundred Rangers and Delta Force operators were pinned down in the city, caring for the wounded and fighting off thousands of heavily armed Somali militiamen. Helicopter crews from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment—the Night Stalkers—provided aerial fire support. One of the most intense battles of modern times had been going for seven hours; it would continue through the night... Read More

Harvey Mansfield is a legend—not to say a myth. These days, of course, a conservative on the political-science faculty of an Ivy League college may sound as mythical as a minotaur. Perhaps Harvey’s critics viewed him with the same mixture of astonishment and fear as they would the mythical beast. Unfortunately for them, Harvey was all too real. When I arrived on campus in the mid-nineties, Harvey had been around for nearly fifty years. Every student knew the legend of Harvey C. Mansfield—or... Read More

I rise today to honor Keith Stokes: a dear friend, a beloved Arkansan, and a trusted aide. On August 18, Keith tragically passed away from a heart attack at age 59. He’s in our prayers, along with the entire Stokes family, especially his wife Julie and his children Chip and Abbey. Keith wasn’t only a colleague though; he was a close family friend. The Cottons live just up the road from the Stokeses in Yell County. Julie and my mother worked together in the middle school for years. Keith was a... Read More

Thank you for the incredibly warm welcome! It’s a pleasure to be with the members and supporters of Christians United for Israel. You are the very definition of God-fearing patriots. You champion a strong America and you courageously stand up for one of America’s best friends, the nation of Israel.    And you have an inspiring leader of faith in Pastor Hagee. It’s always a pleasure to see him, as well as his his lovely wife, Diana. I’m proud to call them... Read More

Thank you, Oren, for that kind introduction. It’s a pleasure to be speaking to the policy innovators of American Compass.  You know, sometimes it feels like a new think tank is opening every day in DC. They’re like Dunkin Donuts in Oren’s home state of Massachusetts—on every street corner. And some are more successful than others. When American Compass first emerged in 2020, there were no doubt some critics who said it would be like so many think tanks: it would burn... Read More

We hear from Democrats a lot these days about “ending the Iraq War.” Let’s pause for a moment to remember the first time they “ended the Iraq War.”President Obama pulled American troops out of Iraq just over a decade ago. The “dumb” war, as Obama called it, was finally over.Except it wasn’t. It turns out those American troops had kept a lid on a lot of chaos. When they left, the bad guys came back with a vengeance. President Obama dismissed... Read More