I don't think there are many issues in the military personnel that are more emotional or controversial than the issue of diversity.

If you're following that formula, there are a lot of differences among white cultures in this country.

The disability evaluation process is much more complex than any civilian model that people may try to use.

I want to be really clear here. I grew up in the U.S. military, the first institution in this country to be racially integrated, in 1948.

recruiting and retention bonuses are absolutely vital right now, especially for filling some of our stressed career areas

opening statement

This aid plays a critical role in our diplomacy, and nowhere is this more important than in East and Southeast Asia.

Despite the administration's stated attempt to engage Asia, the FY 2012 budget fails to provide the diplomatic funding and foreign assistance needed to rebalance our long-term and short-term strategic priorities.

Of all the regions in the world except Europe, the East Asia region has the lowest budget for foreign assistance.

The national debt may be our biggest national security threat as we move forward.

I am acutely mindful of our special obligation to see to the needs of servicemembers and their families and I take that responsibility very seriously.

Now is the time to follow through on these findings to make sure our female veterans are getting the best care we can provide them with.

Sen. Mark Warner has supported our work by acting as an honorary host for our events in Virginia.

The way that they resolve a lot of these issues--it may not be the way that we do, but it's very effective in terms of fairness and stability in their society.

But, at the same time, I wouldn't think you're in any way suggesting that the quality of the legal system and societal stability in Nigeria is superior to that of Japan.

I think that's a general confusion, because in the way that this rating system is designed...

Seems to me that the implicit assumption in this legislation, at least the way we're measuring output, is that human trafficking is best addressed by country-based programs.

At this point, I would like to emphasize that this line of questioning is really designed to try to examine your methodology rather than being a comment on my view of the quality of the governmental systems in most of these places that I'm…