Top 147 Quotes & Sayings by Tom Cotton

We only have one president and one secretary of state, but our founding fathers very clearly insisted that Congress play a significant role in foreign policy.

At Harvard College, I discovered political philosophy as a way of life.

I can assure you that I'm not very close to Hillary Clinton. I think she's disqualified herself from Commander-in-Chief by her cavalier attitude towards our nation's secrecy laws.

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.

I'll tell you the truth, even in an election year, and that's what people are ready for.

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.

The Middle East and South Asia have a lot less in common with America than 18-year-old kids in Boston have with 18-year-old kids in Arkansas.

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.

We're simply trying to say that Congress has a constitutional role to approve any deal, to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Not today, not tomorrow, not ten years from now.

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

As a Republican Party, we're going to have to have a conversation about it. But I think, ultimately, a majority of Republicans, like a majority of Americans, don't want to let violent felons out of prison.

Donald Trump can ultimately make the case for himself.

I don't do stairs. And I don't do groups.

The nuclear deal with Iran is fundamentally flawed.

There are nothing but hardliners in Iran.

I've said all along: I'll support the nominee, because we can't afford another term of the Obama-Clinton foreign policy or, for that matter, economic policy at home.

Given the devastation that crime can visit on families and communities, I will err on being a little too tough on crime than being too soft on crime.

Hillary Clinton exposed our nation's most sensitive national security secrets to foreign adversaries.

I do not take my obligations as a senator lightly.

Early on, when my wife and I were dating, we went to the grocery store, and I told her that sometimes I just buy birthday cakes, and I eat them. And she said: 'Really? I do, too.'

Teenagers are kinda the same wherever you find them in America.

Information obtained from detainees at Guantanamo has been described by the CIA as 'the lead information' that enabled the agency to recognize the importance of a courier for Usama bin Laden, a crucial understanding that led to Bin Laden's secret hideout in Pakistan and the U.S. raid that killed him.

Donald Trump may occasionally say things that are controversial or even objectionable to some, but those are words.

I'm not going to respond to every single thing that Donald Trump has to say or that Hillary Clinton says.

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.

If men have easy access to divorce, many will choose it thoughtlessly. They may not gain true happiness with their new trophy wives, but they certainly will not slide into the material indigence and emotional misery that awaits most divorced women.

When he was running, my thinking was, 'I can't believe my governor is running for president.' By the end of Clinton's first year in office, I was like, 'Wow, I must not be a Democrat.'

Two-thirds of the American people realize just how bad the nuclear deal is with Iran.

The NSA is not listening to anyone's phone calls. They're not reading any Americans' e-mails. They're collecting simply the data that your phone company already has, and which you don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy, so they can search that data quickly in the event of a terrorist plot.

Our goal is simple: to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Under the cover of encryption, terror masterminds provide recruits with the tactics and tools necessary to carry out attacks using small arms and explosives. None of this requires any overseas travel.

Ambition characterizes and distinguishes national officeholders from other kinds of human beings.

I run a lot every morning.

I think that Americans - and this is not true just now, but over the years - are not fundamentally opposed to war. They're fundamentally opposed to losing wars.

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.

The Senate must approve any deal President Obama negotiates with Iran by a two-thirds majority vote.

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.

We have to remain vigilant, and we have to continue to take the fight to the terrorist.

Jimmy Carter proposed withdrawing the troops from South Korea. He was stopped by the United States Congress.

I learned one of the very important lessons in life in the 9/11 attacks. It's good to have a plan for your future; it's even better to write your plan in pencil.

We need to force Iran to dismantle its nuclear program entirely or face the threat of military force to destroy that program.

Guantanamo Bay is a first-rate detention facility that's kept terrorists off the battlefield and kept America safe. It's critical role in our national security cannot be overstated.

The critical role of Congress in the adoption of international agreements was clearly laid out by our Founding Fathers in our Constitution. And it's a principle upon which Democrats and Republicans have largely agreed.

Actions have consequences.

I am focused on the work that the people of Arkansas sent me to do.

Guantanamo Bay can be and has been visited repeatedly by the International Red Cross and other human-rights groups for observation in an open, regular, and transparent manner. Detainees receive the same medical care as the guard force and are able to participate in their daily prayer sessions.

The Iranian people, if you look at their demographics and their level of education, could be a strong source for stability in the Middle East. The problem is they're run by an apocalyptic cult of ayatollahs.

I'm very proud and happy to be serving the people of Arkansas and the Senate, and I look forward to continue to serve them.

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

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

Today, few terrorist organizations still employ the 'al-Qaeda model' in which individuals travel to terrorist training camps overseas and then are deployed to the West to inflict atrocities.

You never know what kind of challenges are going to be thrown in your way or opportunities will arise.

If we had maintained a small, residual force in Iraq, I don't think the Islamic State would have risen to power as it has.

I think that the public debate that we had on the Iran deal was very important. That's probably one of the most consequential things most of us will ever vote on ; a nuclear arms control agreement with a mortal enemy. And the White House - despite all their efforts - failed miserably.

The use of encrypted communication and data storage to shield terrorist coordination from intelligence and law-enforcement authorities is known as 'going dark.'

Police officers put the badge on every morning, not knowing for sure if they'll come home at night to take it off.

Inflammatory passion and selfish interest characterizes most men, whereas ambition characterizes men who pursue and hold national office. Such men rise from the people through a process of self-selection, since politics is a dirty business that discourages all but the most ambitious.

Fundamentally, we have to recognize that Iran is not a partner.

Against the wishes of my family, I gave up my legal career, and I volunteered for the Army. I became an infantryman. I went to Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a senator, I play an important role in crafting foreign policy.