Mr. Chairman, speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. No matter how I look at this issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy that forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.

We have to stop the killing. We need to let the refugees - we need to let Syrian citizens go home.

I am convinced that America's great sea of goodwill can be, in fact, a rising tide, a tide that could lift every veteran and every family of our wounded and fallen.

I worry a little bit about - quote - "regime change." We haven't had a great deal of success with that in years. That's just really difficult.

We can't kill our way to victory, and no armed force anywhere - no matter how good - can deliver these keys alone. It requires teamwork and cooperation.

Don't try to run your life through a single straw. Someone, some event, will cut it off.

If you listen closely to the voices of our veterans, you understand that yes, they all returned from war changed, but what never changed is this: They never forgot your generosity. They never forgot the power of opportunity. They never forgot the American dream.