Thank you, Chairman Boxer, for convening today's hearing, and welcome to our three nominees.

I think it is time to stop just talking about that and shed some much greater light on agency processes.

I just wanted to point that out.

How many Americans will have their Social Security numbers collected, stored, and reported?

one of my long-standing priorities has been to protect American Social Security numbers.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, let me thank you, Attorney General Holder and Secretary Duncan for your support of the school discipline initiative, which I think is going to do wonders in communities across the country and curb our school…

It's the people of Louisiana's favorite Federal agency because we depend on them literally morning, noon, and night for so much of the work that we do in our state.

As Chair of Homeland Security Appropriations and as senior Senator from Louisiana, I became particularly impressed with this nominee's ability, his leadership ability, in the aftermath of the oil spill which was about 4 years ago.

The Coast Guard is a branch of our Armed Forces.

Thank you for the leadership you have provided and the partnerships that you have developed with other Governments, and nonprofit organizations, and businesses to leverage the money that the taxpayers of the United States are putting…

the basis of society is family. Children belong in families. Families belong together.

I cannot find the word 'family' in, on any one of these pages.

Keeping them to the one they are born into, keeping that family together.

Well, that is not very convincing. I think it is going to be tough to assure every American that their most private information is safe from criminals because they are attacking us every day.

Well, how are we going to protect them? You know we are losing them.

Well, but under this law, you are giving those numbers to your employer. Now we just give them to the IRS when we file our tax return. How are you going to protect those numbers?

child welfare, particularly international child welfare, is more than a counselor issue.

If we do not change this--20,000 just 8 years ago to 7,000--we will be down to zero.