It is not often one can end a 67-year-old controversy with a stroke of a pen, but that is exactly what we are doing.

Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill to improve the management our public lands by increasing the fines and penalties associated with violations of law--and regulation--governing the use of these lands. Throughout the west, and…

Thank you, Chairman Gordon. Madam Chair, I rise today in support of the Polis amendment to H.R. 4061, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2009. We enjoyed working very closely with Chairman Gordon, his staff, Representative Lipinski; and…

The backlog is a major concern for everyone who is a stakeholder in veterans' issues, and I believe that through a bipartisan, collaborative effort, we will begin to resolve the issues that have hampered VA for so many years.

I look forward to hearing about how all of these pilots and laboratory initiatives will put VA on track to processing its compensation and pension claims in a virtual environment using a twenty-first century processing platform.

It is imperative that this subcommittee continue to exercise its oversight responsibilities to ensure that this time the IT program works and is on time.

Again, VCS thanks to Chairman Hall and Ranking Member Lamborn for your continued leadership on this issue and your strong dedication to our veterans and their families.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I also welcome everyone to this hearing, which is the first of our 2nd session, and I look forward to continuing the progress that we have made so far in the 111th Congress.

This place looks broken to the American people. The ability -- our ability to make these decisions is open to enormous question in the wake of the health care discussion in particular.

This thing up here is the biggest, baddest piece of equipment we have but it needs to be maintained and upgraded.

I think we're going to face tighter budgets in future years and we may have the potential need to trip Pentagon budgets as well.

Mr President, I rise to acknowledge the great contributions of Colorado's African-American community in celebration of Black History Month. Colorado's African-American community has a long history in our State. From the days of its…

You make peace with your enemies, not with your friends.

I appreciate that clarity.

the eventuality of the repeal isn't in question.

the moratorium could be put in place as we put this implementation plan together.

It's a wonderful way to provide those soldiers with the opportunity to get in touch with that excitement, the adrenaline, the meaning that comes when you serve in combat.

I look forward to the report, obviously.