Judd Gregg

I commend the Department's efforts to accelerate critical improvements in our Nation's homeland security apparatus in the wake of the Christmas Day bomber's failed terrorist attack.

Your presentation around the world has been extraordinary and it's been very positive for us, for our Nation, to have you out there as our spokesperson, along with the President, of course.

Those of us who've had a chance to travel to some more severe regions in this world, such as Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, of course Iraq, recognize that the men and women who serve us in the State Department are on the frontlines and…

A piggy bank which adds to our deficit, adds to our debt, and gets put on our kids' backs.

You are adding to the debt that our kids are going to have to pay back.

So when we hear the House talking about--the House leadership talking about changing health care so that insurance is fully deductible and so that the Cadillac plans are given advantageous tax treatment, that is actually going in the wrong…

I actually think it is malfeasance to present a budget which, by its own terms and numbers, leads us down a path which ends in insolvency for this Nation.

I think we can take judicial notice of the fact that a socialist Senator from Vermont and a conservative Senator from New Hampshire are not going to agree.

The debt is the threat. And it is more than a threat now. It is a cataclysmic event facing us.

It is not 2020 and 2030 that we need to worry about. It is 2017, 2015, when our bonds are no longer salable.

I view this issue as the most serious issue our Nation confronts after the issue of a terrorist getting a weapon of mass destruction.

Essentially, we will reduce the quality of life of our Nation and of our children and our children's children if we do not do something about the burden of the debt.