Chuck Hagel Quotes (79 Quotes)

This is a man who was shaped and molded on the prairie and has distinguished himself . . . in some of the most difficult jobs that we've had in our government.

What I think the White House does not yet understand and some of my colleagues, is the dam has broken on this (Iraq) policy.

The Democrats, it seems to me, have to be careful not to overreach, not to be too partisan, not to push too far or blame Bush or the Republicans for every ill that we have to deal with in this country,

The second question here is Who is doing all of the fighting This is also a societal issue. Should we continue to burden the middle class, who represents most all of our soldiers, and the lower-middle class

I don't know where he's going to get these troops, ... There won't be any National Guard left ... no Army Reserve left ... there is no way America is going to have 100,000 troops in Iraq, nor should it, in four years.

I don't have any qualms about him unless something obviously comes out of nowhere. I doubt that's going to happen, ... I think he represents the best of judicial prudence and style and records and qualifications.

This will be the defining race for the future of our state, ... We will elect a new senator and a new congressman. There are 20 seats open in the state legislature. This is serious business.

I was probably the main driver on the Republican side because I thought we needed the answers to whether intelligence was misused, intentionally or unintentionally,

I think the American people want to have confidence in this administration's national security plans. And this is the only way to do it.

They will continue to play a critical role here in the Middle East, and we'll find out what we need to find out.

The road to Arab-Israeli peace will not likely go through Baghdad, as some may claim.

It's definitely in their interest -- certainly in the interest of this country, ... Americans and our allies across the globe must have confidence in our leadership. They must trust our processes. And that certainly includes our intelligence community's results.

I really think that the proper role for Saudi Arabia or for any other country in the region is to help them, not critique them. And I've made that point very clear to countries in the region.

It should have been done when this whole thing started. Listen to her.

Every ground squirrel in this country knows that it's going to be 50 billion to 75 billion in additional money required to sustain us in Iraq for this year,

If in fact we are treating prisoners this way, it's not only wrong, it's dangerous and very dumb and very shortsighted,

was a national tragedy partly because members of Congress failed their country, remained silent and lacked the courage to challenge the administrations in power until it was too late.

I think the wise course of action, the compassionate course of action, the better course of action would have been to immediately invite her in to the ranch,

The casualties we're taking, the billion dollars a week we're putting in there, the kind of commitment we've got, we're not going to be able to sustain it, ... Public opinion won't allow it.

failed to give the American people a realistic assessment of where we stand today, and where we should be going.

during a time when in fact we had a policy that was losing. And the members of Congress were interestingly silent and absent in asking tough questions. As long as I'm a United States senator, I will do everything I can to ensure that we have a policy worthy of these brave young men and women who are sacrificing their lives and doing the things that they do for this country. I don't think that policy is there today.

It would bog us down, it would further destabilize the Middle East, it would give Iran more influence, it would hurt Israel, it would put our allies over there in Saudi Arabia and Jordan in a terrible position. It won't be four years. We need to be out.

No one knows how many millions of dollars have been tucked away for special projects for individual members behind a curtain.

The American public can still pick up things about people. John McCain is a fine man and he always does best in a question-and-answer forum.

Is this good news today I think it is. But we have a long way to go,

Democracy is messy, ... We're going to hear a number of examples of how messy and unfair democracy is over the next two weeks. The answer to reforming our system is not to shut people out or diminish the ability of our people or institutions to participate in the process.

It's in the best interests of this country that we continue to keep some common sense and sanity in the process here, and we've got to remember that not only is all of America looking and hoping and wondering about the future of this country and our ability to govern, but so is the world.

We are at a very important and delicate point in our relationship with the People's Republic of China and how this is handled will go a long way as to the future of that relationship,

If you leave an impression that everything is going well...the next time you come back, your credibility will be in question.

The time for healing has arrived, and Congressman Peterson is the one to lead us in that direction.

The United Nations has a critical role to play in promoting stability, security, democracy, human rights, and economic development. The UN is as relevant today as at any time in its history, but it needs reform.

This is not a responsible way to discuss this measure. It could create a vacuum.

We can't ... take that piece of reality in this business and set that aside and say, well, that doesn't count. And the Republicans on my side understand that the majority is in fact up for grabs next year. So there's not a decision made up here that doesn't have that factor coursing through that current.

The law says you can do this and not do this, and so you just technically interpret every dynamic of that, and everything between going to jail and staying out of jail is free game, ... I don't think that's the answer.

I'm not saying my idea is the one and only idea. We should have other ideas, but the president has not laid down a specific plan as to how he's going to get us to solvency. I do that.

Historians will look back on this day and say this was a turning point, ... This is a significant step toward the Congress exercising its constitutional responsibilities over matters of war.

We took a day and a half to make sure that no millionaires could oust any of my colleagues from their seats, ... And many of my colleagues used terms like, 'my seat,' 'our seat,' don't let anybody threaten that, of course.

If we lose our allies and do something very precipitous, it would endanger not just Americans around the world, but it would endanger this country, our security, stability in the world for a long time to come because we were rash in using our power.

We need to be patient here time is on our side here,

I suspect that we go to the floor as it is, and those who disagree with the bill, specifically the Democrats who voted against it in committee, would have an opportunity to introduce amendments,

The 21st century will require a re-affirmation and re-definition of our alliances and international organizations.

We've got to have a clear objective of what it is we want to do in Iraq, ... We went into Iraq and it was all about regime change, weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam was not complying with U.N. mandates. Now the objective is to fight terrorists. That wasn't the objective when we went in. There were no terrorists. As bad as Saddam was, and he was bad and needed to be taken out, but he was not in league with terrorists.

I have always been concerned about centralization of power and eroding individual rights.

This institution could well put America in a position to be held hostage to blackmail, to threats based on our military presence around the world, our diplomatic efforts, our geopolitical economic interests. I don't believe in any way it is in the interest of this country.

Trade barriers do not address competitiveness problems. Barriers do not create incentives to restructure, consolidate, reform, and innovate. (Tariffs will) increase the likelihood of a prolonged economic recession through inflationary prices.

Any recommendations regarding climate policy must meet the demands of economic growth and development, especially in the developing world.

Trust and confidence in the United States has been seriously eroded. The United States should begin drawing down forces in Iraq next year.

I'd like to see somebody, day to day, minute to minute, in that thing, right now, trying to bring it together, ... Late Edition.

look at the big picture here.

That soldier and those men and women there deserved a far better answer from their secretary of defense than a flippant comment, ... Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.