I think he did a very good job in a very difficult environment.

EPA must listen to its professional staff and independent experts, not lobbyists.

EPA must ensure that our environmental laws protect our children first and foremost, not ignore the dangerous threats that children face from pollution.

I believe the EPA has hurt the American people, made them less safe these past 8 years.

The priorities of the leadership in these two agencies must include ensuring our drinking water quality, strong clean air safeguards, protective chemical policies, scientific integrity, transparency, toxic waste cleanup, protecting our…

We have an agency and a set of laws that are already in place to do what must be done.

The course of action chosen by the next Administrator will indeed determine whether people and resources are reasonably protected or, to the contrary, whether overzealous regulations pull us deeper into economic turmoil.

I think it is the more honest way of doing it.

I want a commitment that you will take the time in the next, let's say in the next 2 weeks, to pull up the record on my last Monday's speech, it was a whole hour on the floor of the U.S. Senate, on science.

I don't want anyone to go out of here saying that I want to have a carbon tax. I don't.

EPA works for the American people. They don't work for a President, they don't work for us, they work for the people.

Will you assure this committee that you will enforce that within the Department of Education in compliance with that law?

I have been very impressed with my conversation with you and the research that I have performed and your commitment not to an idea, but to our kids and the future of this country.

One of the things that has given hope and promise for change in this country is his declaration that line-by-line reviews are going to take place in every agency.

One of the other commitments that President-elect Obama made in his campaign--and he and I have talked about it--is a top-down review in every agency across the Federal Government about what is effective, what has metrics on it, what…

One of the laws that President-elect Obama passed was the accountability and transparency law.

I want to be sure to get that in the record here, so that we will be facing that perhaps in the future.

I want to make sure that these people are taken care of and that this spill is cleaned up.