I want to commend you for holding this hearing to examine the current flu vaccine shortage.

Clearly, Congress must take action to increase and strengthen the nation's supply of flu vaccine.

Clearly, Congress must take action to increase and strengthen the nation's supply of flu vaccine.

Until the Saudis commit to changing their schools, their curriculum, their culture, they are still going to be a breeding ground for terrorists like Osama bin Laden.

That has really been the growing concern on the part of the public is when big donors can give unlimited amounts of money or bundle big groups of money then what is the resulting influence and how do you make sure that you separate that…

Why were we so ill-prepared? Why didn't we have more body armor and more fortified HMMWVs available to protect our troops?

Thank you very much. That's good news.

One of the most important things for any soldier to know is when are they coming home.

I feel we have a moral obligation to make sure that they have all of the supplies and equipment, and most of all, protection that they need.

It is our duty. This is not a case where we're not eager to give you the money you need.

I continue to receive e-mails from soldiers in Iraq who tell me that they still lack the equipment they need.

We do need to exercise our constitutional responsibilities.

All of us want to make sure that we do that quickly and fully.

We really do need to preserve the important role that Congress plays.

I hope you will consider working with the committee to come up with a more traditional request.

I remain, however, very concerned about the Department's future shipbuilding plan, particularly as it affects the transition from the DDG to the experimental destroyer (DD(X)).

I think, as Senator McCain and others have suggested, that we are going to see an exodus from the Guard and Reserves that is going to be very harmful because of these repeated deployments.

I will be following up in writing with some of those concerns.