We urge you to take advantage of this opportunity. The Navajo Nation and Indian Country are grateful for your service and long-term vision and wisdom on this matter.

Can I get your commitment to provide a concerted effort to work directly with the tribes on consultation on this issue?

we want you to be aggressive and to go after the wrongdoers at every opportunity.

By passing these cultural protection laws, Congress will take another step in making history in its endeavor to make the Navajo Nation and all tribes across the country whole after experiencing the erosion of their cultural identities.

I applaud the efforts of Congress and the leadership of the New Mexico delegation on these important issues over the decades.

I'm working with Senate colleagues to get this important bill signed in this Congress.

We want them to do so safely. And parents and coaches have good reason to be concerned about the dangers of concussions.

It would permanently protect unique geologic, paleontological and cultural resources in the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah area.

This bill would finally resolve a number of, literally decades long, public land and resource issues in Northwestern New Mexico.

Since the establishment of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument it has certainly been a tremendous asset for the local community and small businesses.

It would allow the Navajo Nation to receive its final settlement acts pursuant to a legal settlement dating back to 1974.

I know there are many New Mexicans, especially from the Northeastern part of the state, that are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to go visit and hopefully see it open for things like hiking and hunting and camping next year.

It seems like every few months, we hear about another pharmaceutical company raising the cost of a certain drug or device to a new astronomical price.

Unfortunately, it's not our first hearing on such matters. I mean, we are talking and dealing with Turing and Valeant and Mylan and Gilead, and seeing a really disturbing pattern where Congress provides a variety of mechanisms to invest in…

What is more of a threat to the long-term stability of Afghanistan? Is it the current inability of the Afghan Government to deal with its own internal struggles, i.e., corruption, or is it ISIS, Al Qaeda, the other group you mentioned, or…

I find that appalling.

Thank you, Chairman Thune. And I know Senator Gardner is not here, but I have the same issue in terms of New Mexicans watching television in another state.

I'd like to reiterate our strong desire to see New Mexico, with our labs and universities, play a key role in the Department of Energy's Mission Innovation Initiative.