Joe Kent, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center, emphasized the importance of accurate intelligence in preventing a repeat of “the past 20-plus years of endless wars” during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Kent, who has called for the U.S. to pull back from the Middle East as part of his  broader isolationist foreign policy views, told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that he views this moment in history as a “very critical time for us to continue the fight against terrorism,” which he described as “the fight of my lifetime and the fight of my generation.”

“The past 20-plus years of endless wars and endless deployments overseas have quite frankly not addressed the terror threat that we faced after 9/11 and the terror threat that we face right now. We have to find a way to strike a reasonable balance and have sustainable counterterrorism efforts that mostly focus on enabling partners, allies, surrogates and proxies,” Kent said in his opening statement.

“Underpinning all of this is accurate intelligence, and that’s what NCTC and the intelligence community can provide. Accurate intelligence will prevent us from having more endless wars. It will tell us exactly where the terrorists are overseas so that we can take them out before they come here. Accurate intelligence will stop terrorists from coming into our country, and accurate intelligence is going to help us run down every single terrorist, every single cartel member that’s inside the United States of America, and get them the heck out of here,” he continued.

Kent also told senators that locating and deporting the Afghans, Tajiks and Uzbeks let into the U.S. by the Biden administration following the Afghanistan withdrawal who have “any ties to any foreign terrorist organization terrorism will be one of my top priorities.”

“We also have massive terrorist threats coming from overseas, and a lot of this is due to the debacles of the Biden administration,” Kent said. He pointed to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the “major terrorist sanctuary” that has developed there and in Syria in recent years, later adding: “This sanctuary in Syria poses a major threat to our national security that we have to address, and we have to address this in a very pragmatic way.”

Kent was pressed by senators on both sides of the aisle about his involvement in the Signal group chat of senior Trump officials and Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg discussing plans to conduct strikes on the Houthis. He acknowledged being a part of the chat but declined to go into detail due to the ongoing litigation and investigations into the matter. Kent was not asked, however, about the opposition he voiced in the chat to the strikes.

Kent was also asked about his comments accusing the FBI of involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and for questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), the committee’s chairman, praised Kent in at the start of the hearing for his “20 years of military service during the war on terror,” which he said “provides him with the experience and knowledge needed to lead the fight against terrorism as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center.”

“Serving as a Green Beret and later as a CIA officer, Mr. Kent has dedicated his entire career to courageously hunting down terrorists and keeping Americans safe. He knows firsthand the threat that terrorism presents to our homeland and the devastation it causes. His first wife, Shannon Kent, was killed while serving in Syria in 2019, for which we all express our continued sympathy and gratitude for her service. Mr. Kent is a soldier and a patriot, who is the right person to lead the National Counterterrorism Center,” Cotton said. 

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the committee’s top Democrat, said that he was in agreement with Cotton about Kent’s qualifications but diverged on whether he has the right judgment for the role.

“Given your background, you clearly have the experience to do this job. I have no questions about your patriotism or your commitment. I do have some questions about your judgment,” Warner said.