I think we have to realize that it doesn't just apply to Department of Defense (DoD). It applies to every federal agency.

The report of children out of school--if you were Hispanic in this country your chances of suspension, I don't know how many times.

And when I came to Congress if you were in a wheelchair you could not get into the classrooms.

But the fact of the matter was that we know at that time that students were counseled--parents were counseled that you might want--if you need a doctor's appointment we are only testing today so take your son or daughter to the doctor.

There is nothing more important for families around this country than the quality education of their children.

'Flexibility' often gets raised when people are trying to avoid accountability.

Regrettably, the two bills we are examining today do not reflect those values.

These states aren't just running away from the one-size-fits-all approach of NCLB.

Even one injury is too many because it means that a friend or colleague has been hurt.

I believe that safety and quality are critical ingredients in everything we do; it is a continuous focus and is as important as breathing.

I concluded my written statement to the committee with three 'Ts': restore TRUST, eliminate TRANSACTIONAL oversight; and TURN OVER management to the people you hired to manage.

In my view, good safety management starts with the perspective that there is no such thing as an 'accident'--safety incidents are the consequence of breakdown of one or more of the safety systems.

presently the NNSA laboratories are under severe stress in their ability to perform their vital missions because they are substantially and increasingly constrained by the manner in which Federal management and oversight is implemented.

I am a proud co-author of that law.

It's a disgrace that we have such a large claims backlog, and it's an insult to the veterans who have served our Nation.

Since the 20 years that Congress last reauthorized the FCC, this subcommittee has held oversight hearings to look at your budget and to also review how the agency is functioning.

That's a lot of work.

There's a lot of opportunity there for abuse and there's a lot of opportunity for gain as well.