I look forward to working with him in the months and years ahead to make sure that our veterans have the highest possible level of care and quality-of-life.

We owe our veterans nothing less.

Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to introduce Dr. Robert Petzel.

I do not think I have any higher priority than making sure that our veterans get the health care that they deserve.

Clearwater County, for example, had an average unemployment rate of over 19 percent in the first 5 months of 2009.

How about the idea of some kind of increased criminal penalties for this kind of activity?

We are simply trying to get the information that we can get so that we can help law enforcement to solve them.

However, to effectively stem metal theft across the country, Congress must act to ensure that these crimes do not find their way into other States.

I hope they do that in politics, too.

I think it has been taking too long at the EPA.

I'm a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and have been closely monitoring the work that the FTC is doing in this area.

Both Senator Hatch and I have made statements that we do not see it that way.

I think that forcing or mandatorily forcing some restrictions on the scrap metal dealers is a good thing.

The Klobuchar-Hatch bill puts recordkeeping requirements on scrap yards and metal dealers, and I believe it is an effective step in deterring this crime.

I believe that we have enjoyed the--'enjoyed' probably is not the best word, but we have benefited from the tougher restrictions on scrap metal dealers in the State of Minnesota.

I think that it would go a long way in solving a problem.

I know and we know that the recordkeeping and retention requirements in the Klobuchar-Hatch bill will not end all metal theft across the country, but it is a positive, proactive step to helping law enforcement as we strive to reduce…

I think part of why some of these energy issues have been more bipartisan in our State is that people feel that they have a piece of the action.