TOM COTTON

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

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.

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

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

There are nothing but hardliners in Iran.

Roadside bombs that Iran sent to Iraq to blow up over 500 American soldiers cost a lot less than $1.7 billion.

My thesis was a defense of our Constitution on the terms that the founding fathers wrote specifically in the Federalist Papers. They hoped that our form of government would draw forward men and women who are the wisest, most prudent, and most experienced.

If Iran wants their money back and wants to be treated like a normal nation, they need to act like a normal nation.

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

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

I do not take my obligations as a senator lightly.

In my opinion the only problem with Guantanamo Bay is there are too many empty beds and cells there right now. We should be sending more terrorists there for further interrogation to keep this country safe.

In our globalized world, our domestic prosperity depends heavily on the world economy, which, of course, requires stability and order. Who provides that stability and order? The U.S. military.

Law and order in our communities doesn't arise spontaneously.

The acronym ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. But increasingly, we see that it's not limited there. We see it in Egypt. We see it in Libya. We see it in Afghanistan.

We have taught Iran's leaders and the world a very bad lesson: that there is a price on the head of Americans to be held hostage.

Trying to balance the budget through defense cuts is both counterproductive and impossible.

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.

We need to significantly increase the number of bombing runs we're conducting in Iraq and Syria.

With Iran, we negotiated privately in 2012-2013 from a position of strength, not a position of weakness. The secret negotiations in Oman. This ultimately led to the Joint Plan of Action of November 2013.

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.

Bill Clinton worked with a Republican Congress. They certainly had their differences on many issues, but look at what they also accomplished. Welfare reform - that was maybe the most significant social policy achievement in two generations.

Actions have consequences.

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.

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.