"I have long been concerned that contractors at DHS and elsewhere are performing inherently governmental functions, work that should be done by Federal employees."
"That is all right. Well, we will do a second round here."
"We need to ensure that government employment continues to be attractive enough that we retain new Federal employees once the economy gets better."
"First of all, we have got to recognize and address the hiring challenges posed by workforce balancing efforts, and I think most of us agree that the last Administration went too far the other directio..."
"The American people expect strong leadership from the Federal Government."
"If an agency is looking at its core capabilities--Senator Voinovich and you talked earlier about cyber security professionals--sufficient to maintain the agency's mission and operation, that is not a ..."
"That is the agency's responsibility, to put in place measures, so that the contractors that came in to do the drilling really did have the ability to prevent what is happening now."
"We must ensure that Federal agencies remain in control of their missions, and I am hopeful that OMB's work will move us closer to that goal."
"We do not feel like Charlie Brown with the football, as we seem to have every year."
"I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss legislation pending in this Committee."
"IAVA strongly supports this common sense draft bill that will allow an authorized individual to sign on behalf of a veteran who is a minor, physically unable or declared mentally incompetent."
"IAVA supports this bill, which would streamline the process of appealing a disability claim and would not penalize veterans for misfiling a notice of appeal."
"We need to rethink how we are actually going to deliver services to the individual veteran."
"I think that S. 3348 is a great example of that, a small procedural change that we can do to cut the red tape."
"We are especially appreciative of Senator Burr's leadership in crafting and introducing this legislation."
"It is imperative, however, that we understand what happened to cause this accident."
"I hope that the lessons we learn will be taken very seriously."
"I am confident that both the Coast Guard and NOAA... are doing all they can to lead the government's response efforts."