I thank my friend the Senator from New Jersey. These issues have such a profound impact on individual people and communities. When I think back to that Las Conchas fire that I talked about a little bit in my comments, I cannot help but…

Absolutely. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with the Senator from New Jersey who knows firsthand what some of these superstorms are capable of. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The Senator from Rhode Island brings up a very good point because obviously the Chinese have come to the conclusion that it is in their best interests to innovate and to do it as rapidly as possible. He brings up some issues that, frankly…

But miles and miles apart. New Jersey has a coastline. New Mexico does not have anything resembling an ocean anywhere near us. Our States have incredibly different histories and yet so many of the same kinds of issues. I think another…

The amazing thing is that in our conversations we have sort of educated each other on these two States that are kind of close to each other in the alphabet----

I think the Senator has hit the nail on the head when he said that those among us with the least economic means often bear the highest cost. That is certainly true in New Mexico. We have enormous economic challenges. We have communities…

Through the Chair, I thank the Senator from New Jersey in particular for sharing those stories, because we need to take some inspiration from people all across this country, and certainly in New Jersey, who have faced up to incredible…

If the Senator would yield, we have heard time and time again that when we allowed the market to innovate and deal with these same kinds of challenges--whether it is NO<INF>X</INF> and SOx or other pollutants we have been able to address…

Mr. President, as a member of the climate change task force, I am pleased to join my colleagues in calling for action on tackling one of our Nation's greatest challenges. I wish to start by thanking Senator Whitehouse, Senator Schatz, and…

It reminded me of growing up as I did. My mother worked in the auto industry, and there was a time when we had a great debate. My grandfather complained based on something he heard on the radio about these catalytic converters which were…

I do. And I think it is worth noting that when we speak about the four Republican Administrators of the EPA, they have all looked at the history of this argument and how it really reflects on a conversation we have had since the 1960s--and…

Before there was a Tesla, when I was in college in the early 1990s--and this is one of the things that makes me such a strong believer in innovation and really gives me the optimism to say that we can do just about anything as a country…

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I will try to not use the whole time so that we can move forward.

Mr. President, lest we forget, more than 30,000 brave Americans are still serving in harm's way in Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of men and women in uniform are serving around the world. They all volunteered. In return for their…

And how often are those reports or suggestions, is that annually? Do you do it quarterly, and I would suggest that we have more access to that kind of information in this committee, Mr. Chairman.

Can you give me some specifics. So that is going to be counseling? Are there therapeutic services, an opportunity for suggestions about how to improve those processes, involvement in the services to the highest degree possible?

And given that each one of these tragedies is very difficult to accept, we want to absolutely evaluate it in the context of mitigating for the future but also supporting men and women and, again, the family members who suffer these kinds…

I cannot imagine the pain of losing a family member or a loved one in this kind of an incident.