What I am asking you is, if you observe and develop, and I would ask this question also to the electric cooperative and to the utility industry, generally, if there are impediments here, please let us know what they are so that we can try…

There's no such thing as a silver bullet, maybe silver buckshot.

Can you commit today, Mr. Powell, that you will do everything humanly possible within your purview to make sure that the regulatory burden for our small financial institutions are controlled and hopefully repealed?

I co-sponsored--the first bill I co-sponsored was a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution to finally force Washington to live within its means, stop balancing our books and start paying down the debt.

Do you think this is a problem?

I tell you it makes my belly sick.

We're 8 months late now.

I believe that UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] gives Russia the potential to, 'Own almost half of the Arctic Circle.'

I believe he would do a victory dance.

This is simply a question of allocation of resources. This is the most serious public health problem this country faces.

Can you commit to me that you will move this to the highest level of priority and kick some behinds and take some names in this interagency cooperation?

I believe that China seeks regional hegemony.

I am not attacking you. I am attacking the failure of our structure to adequately get at a problem when we have it right in front of us.

I take it that we are now trying to play catch-up in terms of our capabilities to operate in a contested environment.

I think that's one of the things that's lacking--prior administration, current administration. Let's just get it done.

Our strength is our freedom and our First Amendment and our free press and our open society.

We have to think about it that way, and begin to come together to protect the values and our way of life.

The influence that we derive with them is by working with them to demonstrate how we do our targeting process.