Mark on that message. We want the country to go in a conservative direction. We have no shame in using americas Natural Resources to create better jobs for working families. And where we the people have the power and not the federal government. I send that message. Thank you very much. [applause] ive got a lot of people to thank here. Let me start with the staff and volunteers. We didnt just have people in louisiana. We have people in connecticut, massachusetts. Texans and oklahomans, people in idaho, iowa. We had people in states i didnt this was an. American victory. Thank you all again. A special shout out to the Campaign Team who made sure louisiana did better than the obama turnout. Speaking of shout outs, senator vitteridder victor helped us from the beginning, so a big shout out. [applause] this is not about either of us. Its about our country. Both of these men considered running. Both of them ended up in our conservative movement because its about the future of our country. [applause] i thank my family. My mother, my son. He couldnt make it today. I think my father and motherinlaw, the bank i andk my father motherinlaw, my brothers, my extended family. We could not have done this , withoutour support your prayers, your contributions, your work. You are wearing red tags. You made this happen for the last two years. Theceived a call from senator. Very graciously, she congratulated me and wished my family well. The senator should be thanked for her service to our state and country. Those is that i dont care that you voted for senator lambert. I am here to serve you, too. [applause] we have lots of challenges, if anyone hasnt noticed. My commitment to you is to so we and learn from you can address those challenges for our state and our country. It is not about us. It is about the United States of america. Each of you in this room cares about our country deeply. The personored to be you elected to express those concerns. We have got lots of work to do in the future, but tonight is the night to celebrate. God bless you. She cost me votes. Its her fault it didnt go down. God bless you. God bless louisiana. Thanks once more. With the Louisiana Senate race decided, republicans are set to hold a 54 member majority in the senate when the congressional session begins in january. The house races were won by republican candidates, giving them the majority. There is one final house race that has yet to be called in arizona, where a recount is clearly taking place. Arizona senator john mccain discussed priorities in the next to military and foreign affairs. Aboutke at a forum foreignpolicy initiative. This is just under an hour. I cannot think of a more important time to take on that , and let me just ask you, what are your Top Priorities . What are the things youre going to be focusing on over the next . Ear or two thank you. These are interesting times. We have a lot to talk about. May i express my admiration for all the work you have done . Lie of you know the brains and his wife, who continues to serve with distinction in republican and democratic administrations alike. I thank you. We needthe first thing to address is sequestration and the impacts of it. I think we need to listen to our military leaders. Its people like the general who are responsible for our men and in the United States army and the marine corps. They are the ones bearing the brunt of sequestration. We have still got people on the ground in afghanistan, as you know. Whats the general is saying and what the commandeer of the marine corps is saying is were not going to be able to defend National Security institute. I would argue when we passed sequestration, and nobody thought we would. Factor to motivating force them to bargain, and the bargain sale. If you listen to both of those individuals, they will tell you they will not be able to defend this nation if sequestration continues. Is any think there greater critic about cost and waste in management, and that has to be addressed. Right now we are having a cutback on training, readiness, maintenance. Those aspects of the military the consequences are not felt until later years. They are very specific, and i agree with them. I would say sequestration is the first. Then we have to look at the number of issues. One of them is cyber. Meetings onto more fiber that have achieved on cyber that have achieved less. We all recognize the huge challenge. Yet we always leave without agreement. I would argue if there hasnt been sufficient leadership from the white house, but i would also argue it is a failure from congress to understand it. A lot of people have not been involved in this type of warfare. Issue continues to evolve. I would say ciber is something we have to Work Together on. We have a close relationship for years. We are committed to working together. Corker will be in the foreign rations relations committee. There is Competition Among staff. We are Close Friends and we will try to work on a common agenda. I cant go to the American People and say we will repeal sequestration without making another run at acquisition reform. We have built an Aircraft Carrier, 2. 4 billion in cost overrun. It is now having more cost overruns. I asked the chief of Naval Operations who is responsible. You know who is responsible . He said, no. We have everybody responsible so nobody is responsible. That is the classic bureaucratic response. We need to fix it. I could go down the list. I dont have to tell you. It has got to stop. Its got to start with fixed cross contracts. With all respect to my friends, they lowball the numbers so they can get the contract. And then it it escalates and gets higher and higher. My contractor does the same thing. If your roof leaks, you hire it a guy not on a cost plus contract. My wife has done that, by the way. You speak with a great deal of urgency which i think many people in the room share, both the Defense Budget and the problems associated with it. I wonder how much urgency the American People feel to read even within the Republican Party, there seems to be many people who believe we dont need to have this big defense capability. What is it for . If youre fighting terrorism, fine. You have drones. Other people to do it on the ground. What is this for . Can you push something as dramatic as an increase in the Defense Budget when americans dont know why they need to do it. Could i complete my answer to your first question . I apologize for not doing so. What we are going to try to do is have initial hearings, the smartest people in america i know starting with kissinger and baker. And then with others, former National Security advisers. Military commanders like petraeus. Have those hearing so we can develop a situation, hopefully, where policy drives budgets rather than the opposite. I know that is impossible completely. How to the American People feel . The greatest frustration to me for a long time was the carnage and genocide taking place in syria. The pictures smuggled out had no effect. It was stunning and frustrating and heartbreaking to read i knew the people who were dying in syria. The beheadings had a huge effect on American Public opinion. I could show you a 30 point swing in American Public opinion about support or addressing isis. The appreciation of the threat we face. Whether that shouldve been the reason are not, it was not. I believe americans are much more concerned than they were before that happened. American Public Opinion is very much leaning towards more significant action to be taken. The American People need to be told. After there were 8000 people ethnically cleansed in bosnia, which is a horrible act of genocide, president clinton went on National Television and said, genocide is taking place. You are going to have to intervene. Gerber that vote and that debate. Many in my party were against it. I remember that vote and that debate. Many in my party were against it. The president needs to talk to the American People about these threats. How serious they are. How impactful it is to the future security of the u. S. That is still not happening. The American People, there was only one person that can talk to the American People. Affected significantly the American Public opinion. That is the president of the u. S. He has not done it. That is why it i were you are why i were you are going to have tough sledding. Unfortunately for us, it is going to be overtaken by events. Remember when we celebrated when the last american combat soldier left iraq . Now it is 300. Then it is 1500. My friends, sooner or later, we will have boots on the ground in the form of Forward Air Controllers and other capabilities that the iraqis do not have. It is happening gradually. It reminds me of another war long ago and far away when Robert Mcnamara decided gradual escalation was the way to win the vietnam war. When you tell the enemy you are going to strike them and give them a week or two weeks noticed, usually those buildings you see being destroyed are empty. When you keep telling the American People and our adversaries what we will not do, that sends the wrong message to isis. Life is antidotal. Mr. Baghdad he, who spent four years in our prison camp, one time we had 25,000 prisoners there. After four years, he was released. On his way out the door, he said i will see you in new york. He was not known for his sense of humor. He is committed to seeing us or his followers in new york or a major capital of the u. S. When you have thousands, not hundreds but thousands of europeans, some from the u. S. , who are fighting in syria. Although need to do was have a plane ticket to get to the United States. That is why the director of intelligence and fbi have said sooner or later they will present a direct threat to the u. S. There is a whole generation the room of americans who have known only two things. Afghanistan and iraq. Setting aside what they think americas role could or should be, there is a great sense among this generation that we cannot do it. President obama thinks, it is not whether we should or not, we cannot. We cannot use military force to achieve objectives. That is what afghanistan taught. That is what people think iraq taught. Do you worry they way the military activities being carried out now, that is once again going to teach a lesson it does not work . How do we begin to reverse this perception . Or do you agree this perception is out there . I think the perception is accurate to a degree. I dont think the u. S. Had any choice as far as afghanistan is concerned. These were the people that caused the attacks on 9 11. The taliban refused to give them up. The u. S. Had to act. The question is whether we conducted the conflict correctly. Whether we got our attention diverted to iraq. I believe when the secretary of state, one of the most highly regarded and respected man in america, goes before the Un Security Council and congress and says there is hard evidence that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass distraction, that was justification for the vote. We found out afterwards it was not true. I will never forget being in baghdad afterwards. One of your favorites, he was one of the people in the opposition, said where the weapons were. He said, in the desert. I said, that is helpful to read in the case of iraq, the tragedy is after years of mismanagement, Lindsey Graham and i and Joe Lieberman were the severest and harshest critics of the Bush Ministry should administration, called for the firing of donald rumsfeld. Said we were going to fail. The surge succeeded. If you look at the number of attacks, the ability of al qaeda and others to respond, the country was under control. It was under control. If we had left the force behind to stabilize and keep the situation stable, we would have won that. I have been campaigning for president not president , for arson tutorial four senatorial candidates. There was an event. There was a man who said he was in the marine corps, in the second battle of falluja. It was the bloodiest battle of the conflict. We lost it is 6, 400 wounded. Three of my platoon mates were killed. He said, now the black flag is about isis, flying over. What do i tell their mothers . I dont have a good answer. This is not a technical or scholastic issue. Its about american blood and treasure spent and succeeded thanks to one of the great military leaders in history. David betray us. We had petronius. You are going to see the same result in afghanistan. We had a meeting with the chief of the pakistani army, a guy i was impressed with. I asked, do you believe the taliban well if we withdraw everybody out of afghanistan, the government can survive . He said, no. Absolutely not. Unless we adjust our strategy, leave enough of a force there that provides medevac, that is huge in a country like afghanistan. Close air support. Forward air controllers. Trainers. Then you will see the same situation in afghanistan. That is tragic. What about another area which has been tragic . You have spoken about it many times. Can i say one more thing about afghanistan. They have a great leader. It is a dramatic change. He deserves the chance to govern. He has a working relationship with David Abdullah dula. This guy is so good, so dedicated and so knowledgeable, that i have great confidence on his ability to unite the people. If the battlefield conditions indicate he has the opportunity to do so. That is an important point. It is important worth making. The average american thinks afghanistan has been hopeless for a long time. We see the administration is apparently going to be weighing the possibility of a nofly zone in syria. Is that something you would like to see happen . Weve been calling for it for years now. This is a gradualism that is so frustrating. We hear that we are going to step up our assistance to the Free Syrian Army. Ive heard all of these songs before. I think they may do that. I have great confidence in general allen playing a very Important Role right now. I really am convinced that what we are doing may be one of the most immoral courses of action that ive ever seen in my lifetime or in my study of history. We are telling young men in syria that we will train and equip them to go back and fight against bush rl assad. Bosher alassad. While he increases his tax on the Free Syrian Army and slaughtering them with a barrel bombs. We will attack isis and we will tell them to go back into the fight. We are looking for some kind of unholy alliance with iran based on an agreement for Nuclear Weapons and then to china . Its delusional. This is the same outfit that sent hezbollah into syria which is what tipped of the momentum in the battlefield. They ran a revolutionary guard with plain roads planeloads of weapons that came in and now we will make some alliance with iran . It is incredible to me and frankly, i will not be a party to asking a single young syrian to go in and fight for his countrys freedom if we are going to continue to allow assad to attack them from the air. It is immoral to do that. I value human life too much. Is there anything you in congress can do or are we prisoner to what the administration does or does not the side decide . It is authorized to go after the people responsible for 9 11 and that obviously is passe. The second thing we need to do is have hearings on both the Foreign Relations committee and in the Armed Services committee, again working together on this whole issue. We can pass legislation. For example, now to bob corker, we have legislation ready to authorize providing weapons to ukraine. Does anyone here not know that we are refusing to provide defensive weapons to ukraine while they are being dismembered by Vladimir Putin . We cant make that up. By the way, were are sending them lots of blankets. You throw them at a russian tank and sometimes it catches in the treads. [laughter] its insane. Of course, you cannot imagine the disillusioned that im sure you are aware, but you cannot imagine the disillusioned that the ukrainian people feel as we encourage them to overthrow and get rid of yanukovych and now we want give them weapons while they watch their country being dismembered . He is establishing the land bridge, as you know, and his next calculation will be moldova especially in light of the recent elections which narrowly the communists were defeated. What do you say to the argument that the u. S. Goes ahead and provides weapons in any substantial form to ukraine that it will give putin of the excuse to go in and a much heavier weight than he is currently going in . What were your response be if that did come true . If in response to our doing more to the ukrainians that putin sort of goes all in ukraine . We have a long history of helping people struggling for freedom. We could cite many examples, greece and turkey after world war ii after the soviets were about to encroach and our support for afghans after the russian invasion of afghanistan. History is replete with our record of assisting people not necessarily intervening militarily but helping them fight against oppression or invasion. Thereve been a few times when we have not. In this case, to think that by providing these people with weapons to defend themselves we give Vladimir Putin further