Jack Reed in 2014 RI Senate debate

On Government Reform: Nuclear option: Allow confirmation of Obama's appointees

The rule change came on a largely party line after partisan rancor between Democratic and Republican leaders had triggered gridlock in appointing federal judges and other top level federal officials.

On War & Peace: Coalition to stop Syrian WMDs, but nothing more militarily

REED: It will help because one of the first things that we have to do is verify, although there is increasing evidence that the Assad regime conducted a horrific attack on its own people, but we have to verify that it was directed by the Assad regime. Because that will allow us to build an international coalition, which is absolutely necessary to take any further steps in Syria.

Q: What do you think the president ought to do?

REED: He has to be careful about defining what is our objective. I believe our objective is to make it prohibitive for any country to use chemical weapons, weapons of mass destruction. So a military option that would be limited to that point is something that he should be thinking about very carefully. But I think we can't let ourselves get into a situation where this becomes a springboard for a general military operation in Syria.

On Foreign Policy: Suspend aid to Egypt while military crushes protestors

REED: Well, the acts of the last few days by the Egyptian military are completely unconscionable and I do believe we have to change our aid. I think also we have to have included in the legislation a national security waiver because we have to give the president not only the responsibility to deal with the government of Egypt, but also the flexibility. And we have to recognize, this is a long-term process. One of the obvious facts of a transition from authoritarian government to democracy, it takes a long time and it's not a straight line. And so, we have to have a policy that expresses our outrage really at the military, but also gives the president the tools to, we hope, engage them. I do believe that we can send a strong signal by suspending aid. The president has already suspended the F-16 transfers.

On Homeland Security: No Benghazi cover-up; had 11 hearings & 25,000 documents

REED: The congress has already had 11 hearings on the topic, over 25,000 pieces of documentation have been provided to the Congress. In fact, the e-mails in question, I believe, were available in February in the context of the John Brennan confirmation hearing.

Q: What about the White House "talking points"? We find these 12 different versions, including a very definitive statement, we do know that Islamic extremists with ties to al Qaeda participated in the attack. That did not appear in the talking points.

REED: That did not appear in the talking points, but I recall when Ambassador Rice was being interviewed on one of the TV shows she essentially said there were extremist elements. She did not contradict that. The president's statement a day after the event, was this was an act of terror. So, there's no attempt that there was a story being created that there was no terrorist involvement.

On War & Peace: Red line in Syria if chemical weapons used against people

REED: We don't have a good sense of who is on the ground. A no-fly zone could be feasible from an operational standpoint.

Q: What would it accomplish?

REED: It might not accomplish a great deal, but it would give us a step further to our engagement in a very complicated civil war. I think the best approach is a diplomatic approach at this point.

RADDATZ: What about the "red line" and evidence that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons?

REED: I think we have to take it very seriously. We do have to be careful, though, because we've had situations in the past where we've acted on information that was incomplete, and frankly, to the detriment of our country.

Q: Should Obama have drawn that red line?

REED: I think he should have made it clear, as he did, that the systemic use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people is something the international community cannot tolerate.

On Budget & Economy: Postpone sequestration; then balanced taxes & cuts

REED: These are serious challenges to the military. I don't think it has to happen; [there is] proposed legislation that would defer the sequestration to next year. It would be paid for in a balanced way by additional revenue as well as additional reduction in spending.

Q: Tax hikes?

REED: Indeed. And that, I think, is the way to proceed, avoiding the blunt across-the-board cuts and also giving us chance to get back into regular order, proposing a budget, doing an appropriations bill. The sequestration will preempt us from getting a budget done.

Q: It's always that you guys need more time and that--can we put it off until next year. Answer me this: if these cuts not just go into effect but are allowed to stay in effect, will the U.S. be less safe as a result of these across-the-board cuts?

REED: Even if you give flexibility, you still have significant reduction. It's not just defense. It's education, it's border security.

On War & Peace: More pressure on Iran; keep all options on the table

REED: It's going to take increased pressure, economically, and that's why the issue of multilateral sanctions is so critical. Up until we enlisted under President Obama, the entire world or significant parts of it in putting pressure on the Iranians, they were not at all responsive. We have to continue that pressure. Also, they have elections scheduled for June. We hope we it will shape it in a positive way, that they will back down from their aspirations for nuclear technology and nuclear weapons. But the first issue is keep the pressure on. We need every option on the table. We have to assess all those options.