Amen to what you said, but I would hope that those jump-ball dollars that the Department is going to allocate soon, that you look at how the criteria will be established.

I want to introduce and lend my support to Mr. Peter Appel, of Alexandria, Virginia, who has been nominated by President Obama to be the Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) at the U.S. Department…

With Peter's background in technology, rigorous analysis, and innovative problem solving, we look forward to a similar approach which will help our Nation reestablish a sound and effective transportation policy.

I think that we have to evaluate a recommendation of relaxing antitrust standards in the context of policies to address the crisis in journalism.

There are things we can do as policymakers in local government especially that can make a big difference.

I do think that some kind of standard set by the EPA on low-impact development could make a difference.

The need is for EPA to enforce that science, and certainly what we have heard from Ms. Jackson says she will.

I personally believe the Federal Government has got to be a leader here in the way that we do our construction.

Having this hearing I think is terribly important.

When is the last time that Afghanistan had an actual functioning national army that could clearly be said to be in control of operations inside its own country?

I appreciate what the President was saying when he talked about focusing this strategy more directly toward countering insurgency and eliminating the presence of the Taliban.

I would say perhaps a brief period more than 30 years ago, for about 30 years, you could say that there was some sort of a functioning national army in Afghanistan, not previous to that and not since.

I would share that I think Senator Webb's comments about the difficulty of creating a fully functional government in Afghanistan are correct.

To me, it is when we have reduced the threat and built that capacity locally to the point where they can be much more self-reliant in managing this problem.

I would also submit that there should be ways to try to measure the true incentive, not simply from the current top leadership in Pakistan.

So it largely will depend on the competence and the willpower of the local Afghanis?

How are we going to know when our national task is finished?

I'm proud to have voted with so many of my colleagues for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which constitutes a bold stroke that will help revive our domestic economy.