Mark Begich

I think your concerns are very valid because you do not want to get into a situation where all you are doing--I think Senator Burr said it--just counting data points because you can do that all day.

We would be foolish not to deploy that for the benefit of our veterans who want to use it and know it.

I think it would be great to have three plans, but for the Senate to decide on one, let alone three, the backlog will get done quicker.

I like that idea of asking each one of them to prepare a process if you had a clean slate how it would flow.

I think it is a great idea. I mean, we do it in Alaska with our judicial system.

Fifty percent of those that go through the mediation process, since we started in April, are being remanded without the actual judicial review.

Should it be looked at? Sure. There is nothing ever wrong with looking at a system.

What I am looking for is a three-stage approach in what would be those realistic short-term ideas that we can move forward on.

As a new Member to the Committee, I will probably have some very naive questions.

I think there is a great service they provide, but they have major systematic problems, that delivery of service is pretty limited.

I just wanted to bring that to your attention while you were here.

Are you willing to, and maybe you have already done it and I'm just not familiar with it, report to Congress in regards to the status of the military family and the needs they have as the military has changed dramatically over the last 30…

I would be very anxious to work with you on that.

We have yet to muster and coordinate the various legal policies, medical and budget resources across the DOD to address these types of injuries.

I happen to think it's important. I think that having a layered defense such as we are building, that includes the ground-based interceptors, is very important.

If you ever get an opportunity to move to a 2-year budgeting cycle, I would be a big, big supporter.

Would you be willing to look at a national standard that we can consider implementing to create energy efficient lights?

I honestly think the system is broken in the sense of deliverability of these projects.

I'm probably not one of those big fans for tolling, but we can have that discussion.

The Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline which will be thousands of jobs, a lot of investment, but will benefit this country greatly.

My biggest concern with the Economic Recovery bill is just that.

I'm for him anyway, but my wife Sharon said that even if I weren't I would have to be because she's from Illinois too.

I look forward to working very, very hard for Americans, setting forth a very aggressive agenda on this Committee.

I think we can be a big part of climate change legislation, a big part of economic recovery.

Active Duty military, their families, and retirees face many challenges accessing health care in Alaska.