Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I am mindful today that the Major League Baseball playoffs are starting. While House Democrats are ready, once again, to step up to the plate and pass urgently needed relief…

This is a topic which, as we have seen of late, is vital to our nation's security.

I have enjoyed working with you on this. And certainly it is an important hearing and very timely right now.

the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program was cut by $135 million in the President's budget request this year.

the cooperative biological engagement effort was cut the most, by over $55 million.

We want to make sure that we are as prepared as possible and can respond with the speed and agility that is necessary in order to save lives.

We need actually bright-line rules.

Their attempted annexation of Crimea, occupation of South Ossetia, and denying citizens of these regions the same rights and freedoms that other people enjoy cannot be ignored.

We must work together to do what the Foreign Service Act set out to do, to create a work force at the State Department that is representative of America.

the reason that this investigation is so important to the future of our country is because our country has a history of this battle between concentrated economic power, monopolies, and democracy.

We definitely need to reform the standards that are completely broken.

We can't wait 5, 10 years for an antitrust case to finish up.

I do not believe Section 2 is sufficient because the soft preferencing and soft prioritization is so rampant.

This has to change. Congress, not the Supreme Court, must be the body responsible for defining the scope of those laws.

Without regulatory intervention, these companies will continue to act in their self-interests rather than in the interest of free and fair competition or privacy.

Congress should use bright-line rules and presumptions to remove complexity and make antitrust cases easier, faster, and cheaper.

This vision of America can be ours if we defeat the robber barons of today, just like we've done before, using the antitrust laws.

Our democracy is hanging in the balance. The time to act is now, decisively and with courage.