Ben Nelson

I want to thank the Chairman for holding this important hearing today; providing us with an opportunity to hopefully sort out the myriad problems and disturbing actions that have led to this unprecedented recall.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to preside here rather shortly.

First of all, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate so much your calling this hearing.

If there is any silver lining here, it is that while the animal cruelty situation was so severe, it does not appear that the food safety situation was--that there was any contamination.

Certainly animal cruelty is something to be avoided.

We've been alarmed, like the rest of the Country, at the rising rates of suicide by military servicemembers.

If there's any more evidence that any of our state's families need for having a NOAA weather radio or all hazards radio, this is another example of having that device to warn you in the middle of the night when you aren't necessarily…

Thank you all for being here today, and congratulations to your families for a job well done this morning, and to all of you.

As we look at other cultures, so very often we want those cultures to look like us almost immediately.

The integration of offensive and defensive systems is a major challenge.

We are going to have to think differently if we want to deny them an impact on our way of life.

The real way to win in Iraq and Afghanistan... is through human bonds and relationships that can be developed with our troops on the ground.