"any Secretary of Defense should ask tough questions, maybe not particularly politically popular questions."
"the welfare, the safety, the success of our men and women in uniform is my top priority, has been and will continue to be, and their families."
"It is important to our national security to have leadership in the Department of Defense right now."
"Senator Hagel has tremendous breadth of leadership in both the public and the private sectors."
"the furloughs have created difficult situations for many."
"should climate surveys be kept to monitor potential long-term issues?"
"Sequestration has created a level of budget uncertainty that makes this much more challenging."
"What has already been deemed reasonable should be a reasonable requirement when guns are sold regardless of how or where they are sold."
"This issue is not about abrogating Second Amendment rights. It is about reasonable limits on those rights."
"Gabby and I were elected to the House of Representatives in the same year, and her courage continues to inspire us."
"Thank you. I would like to just do one follow-up question."
"Senator Hirono. Can you tell me what led to you creating this special court and how it's working?"
"Mr. Gonzales, you are the first U.S. Attorney whose office has a full section focused exclusively on addressing crime in the Native American communities."
"I think it's important that we have diversity in the judiciary, just as we should seek diversity in Congress."
"Senator Hirono. Thank you very much."
"Thank you. With your indulgence, I started this hearing by thanking Chairman Leahy and Senator Grassley for scheduling this hearing so that we can fill these vacancies as promptly as possible."
"As we say in Hawaii, aloha."
"Thank you for all of your work in all of that."
