Mark Begich actually said...

"If I could just ask one, which you don't have to answer now since I will put it in the record."

"As you think of strategic planning, long-term, how do we get to that rural component that is growing, and how do we ensure that we have quality services?"

"I am not going to speak on behalf of the Committee in total, but I would because I think it is a great way for us, instead of waiting for the end of the cycle, to say, why did you not do this?"

"As Senator Begich has noted, our Native people live in some of the poorest, most geographically and most economically isolated places in the country."