Mr. President, I rise today in support of the amendment offered by Senators Conrad and Gregg to create a bipartisan budget commission to address our Nation's long-term fiscal crisis. The Conrad-Gregg amendment would create an 18-member…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for up to 12 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. (The remarks of Ms. Collins pertaining to the introduction of S. 2943 are located in…

Mr. President, yesterday the Senate Homeland Security Committee heard testimony from the three top U.S. intelligence officials about the errors that the Federal Government made leading up to the thwarted Christmas Day plot. We dodged a…

I think it is simply wrong for us to send troops into harm's way without fully equipping them.

I believe industry consolidation through mergers or acquisitions can limit the number of competitors and thus the opportunity for competition.

If you are confirmed, will you evaluate the imposed workforce levels at the public shipyards, including Portsmouth, to ensure that they're sufficient to handle emergency and other unforeseen work on Navy ships and submarines?

I believe that the men and women of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard warrant greater support from the Navy in modernizing the shipyard's dated facilities.

I am concerned about consolidation trends which have had an adverse impact on competition opportunities for the DOD.

Yes, absolutely--the Army Guard and Reserve will receive the exact same education and training as the Active Force.

the National Guard and Reserves are no longer Strategic Reserves but are instead now Operational Reserves.

I hope to increase awareness and improve care for TBI, PTSD, and other psychological effects of war.

I hope that Hurricane Katrina has illustrated to you the risks that a one-shipyard acquisition strategy would have entailed.

If you are confirmed, will you continue to advocate for a 313-ship fleet?

You have said many times that you do not want to send one more American soldier to Iraq than is necessary to perform the mission.

Are we not asking too much of our National Guard?

I was pleased for your assurances that this is a high priority for you and that you have already in fact issued a directive to ensure that the troops do not go if they are not equipped.

Should we also be looking at improving the benefits for National Guard and reservists?

Just last week former Secretary of Defense William Perry testified before this committee that the agreement with our citizen-soldiers had been shattered.