I agree that we need meaningful health care reform.

I am from North Carolina and had chaired the Budget Committee for a number of years.

I really appreciate you holding this hearing, and I have no questions for this panel at this point in time.

I think if Congress does give temporary relief, employers will see that Congress understands our concerns.

The longer we stay in an anemic growth period in this country, this pressure builds and it builds and it builds.

For months the pension community--employers and employees--has looked to Congress for leadership.

I do look forward to working with my colleagues on a solution to the pension funding challenges that most companies have today.

I think we need to ramp this process up. We can't wait.

I think the committee deserves a clarification as to the thought process that PBGC went through and, more importantly, I think the employees of Delphi are owed an explanation as to why this decision was made.

It is well past-due for Congress to address the funding crisis.

$10 million in incremental pension funding is the equivalent to 125 nurses.

We must be good stewards of these national treasures so that they are preserved for the enjoyment of future generations.

But without the willingness of the American people to make the investment, we will come up woefully short.

I am really searching for your help in leading me in the direction to convince people on the Outer Banks of North Carolina...

I hope if, in fact, we think that a policy like removal of automobiles or a cap on the population is something that ought to be policy, that we will sober up before we go out and publicly say that.

Most projections now show the sea rising by at least 1 meter by the year 2100. This is the level currently estimated by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.

I hope that my colleagues, both sides of the Congress, will allow science and science alone to drive our policies in the future.

I would hesitate to say that the most critical needs aren't addressed.