this hearing. i believe we stand at a pivotal moment where congress is going to uphold the duty to protect our national security or we will not. i believe our vote on ultimately what will be a narrowly drawn resolution will be whether congress stands up to human rights or puts us on a dangerous path. whether we allow our power to dramatically shrink. i stand behind the president's request for limited and targeted strikes without u.s. troops on the ground against a regime guilty of heinous chemical weapons attacks on its own people. i know this is a difficult division. i know that some of my colleagues wish we had done a lot more before now. i know that my colleagues, other colleagues, wish to do nothing now. i acknowledge the difficulty of being unable to predict assad's next move. secretary hagel, you spoke to