Mark Begich

There is a bill that I cosponsored with Senator Burr but I do not see it, though I may be wrong.

It just seems unfair. We have to take and weigh someone's constitutional right.

I believe I have heard the Secretary mention the value of advanced appropriations for the medical services.

There is no question that in Alaska we have the highest number per capita of veterans in the Nation.

I would look forward and maybe we can ask the other side of VA at one point what they saw as their savings and opportunity.

Again actually Senator Boozman and I have a bill entitled Putting Veterans Funding First Act, S. 932.

There is no evidence, unless you have some; and I get what you are saying.

This bill acts as a continuation.

What we have to do is connect it, so when someone is sitting in a small town in Kansas and they think about the oceans...

We sometimes undervalue our oceans or our lack of understanding.

It is a question of looking at all of these, let's say, you know, economic problems through a lens of ocean.

I am concerned about some of these cuts and what they may impact, marine science in the future.

This committee is focused on trying to elevate the issues of our oceans at a much different level than has been done in the past.

It is very interesting.

We need to think of the ocean as this engine that is actually driving back into the economy.

It is an investment. It is not an expenditure, it is an investment.

But when you look at the data points of where we are internationally when it comes to STEM education--science, technology, engineering, and math--we are so far down on the scale of where we could be.

I have additional questions, but, because of time, I will need to submit them for the record.

It is not because they were looking it for it. It is because we are talking about it.

Can you imagine if we were to spend half as much as we spend on exploring space, if we spent on oceans, where we would be today?

I urge the continued and expanded risk-mitigating measures like the Arctic Research, Monitoring, and Observing Act that you are proposing, Senator, as well as the ICOOS Reauthorization Act.

The reauthorization of the FOARAM Act is imperative to guide the legacy we will want to leave.

I hope that my experience with the Alaska Ocean Observing System illustrates the potential and the proven success of this innovative approach.

The ocean is Earth's most fundamental and life-sustaining feature.

We urge the reauthorization of the ICOOS Act of 2009 to ensure that the Nation's ocean, coastal and Great Lakes observing systems are sustained and enhanced.