The quicker we can get the answers to that, the better we will be able to build a bill to actually meet the needs of our country and our locals.

Their Louisiana teammates represented our United States very well on the field.

I can tell you, being a Louisiana citizen, his and others' work on those public corruption cases has been an enormous public service that we're all grateful for.

you will not be disappointed should you see them through to the Senate.

I also certainly join with her, and I'm extremely supportive of, the nomination of Judge Jane Triche-Milazzo as well.

I am so pleased and honored to present both of these, Mr. Chairman, for your consideration, and the Committee.

I'm personally honored and thrilled to be a small part of this process.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate the opportunity to present such outstanding candidates to you and to the Committee for your consideration today.

I don't believe I could have found, if I had looked, anyone more qualified.

I certainly join Mary in being extremely, not just supportive, but enthusiastic about our nominees.

It is a good line of questioning.

Keeping up with this evolution is a challenge to the emergency management community.

The ability of emergency response personnel to communicate in real time prior to, during, and immediately after a disaster is critical.

This requires advanced coordination and communication to save lives and property and to recover and rebuild smartly and quickly.

It makes no sense to cut funding from the agencies that must prepare for and respond to future disasters, to use that money to pay for the cost of past disasters.

It is more important than ever to allocate dollars carefully and wisely.

it would be very troublesome and very disappointing to have spent the money that we are investing in communications systems that do not talk to each other

In the United States, emergency management--be it preparedness, response, or recovery--starts at the level of government closest to the people.