If those involved in the financial collapse had responded appropriately to market indicators and had refrained from unsound lending practices, we would not have experienced a crisis so severe.

Madam President, I rise to speak for a few minutes about a gentleman whose 70th birthday will be celebrated next Monday night in Atlanta, GA. He is a gentleman who has deep ties to the Senate. His name is T. Rogers Wade. He came to the…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. While the Military Construction/VA portion of this bill is not cut as much as some other parts of the continuing resolution, the cumulative effect of this CR is really to hurt our veterans. The bill…

It's unfortunate that the press tended to misconstrue what you had to say with respect to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Recent events in the Middle East and North Africa remind us how rapidly the world can change.

Three important tools in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expire soon.

If confirmed, will you commit to examining this expenditure of taxpayers' resources and report back to us regarding the extent to which you believe this is a wise way to spend DOD and taxpayers' dollars?

Before new capabilities are deployed they must undergo testing that enables an assessment under realistic operational conditions against threat-representative targets to demonstrate that they will be effective and reliable.

I don't believe that shows much appreciation for the strategic need to retain our air dominance and follow through on our own Government's strategy to keep us ahead of China and Russia.

As U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq, the Department of State will have to act quickly to significantly increase their security footprint in Iraq.

DOD has reduced the number of F-35 aircraft in the near-term budget plan by 246 over the last 2 years.

I give a lot of the credit for that mission to you, and it is well deserved.

I would hope that from a conditions-based standpoint, Leon, that you would give strong consideration to the safety and security of our soldiers.

While impressive gains in security have been made throughout the country of Iraq, Iraq still remains a very dangerous place to live, travel, and work in 2011.

I am concerned that DOD has redirected money originally planned for F-35 purchases to buy significantly less-capable fourth generation F-18s.

My question is, with this sustained instability throughout the Muslim world, is the withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces from Iraq at the end of this year still the right thing to do?

I think that's a very important region of the world, and will be, for the foreseeable future, and I am advocate of a forward presence there.

What really concerns me about where we are with that program is exactly what Senator McCain alluded to.