I am just saying we are buying top-dollar design and construction at a time that we do not have the money to pay for it.

at the very start of my comments, let me make it clear that the nominee we are voting on today will have my support. I like her from a personal standpoint. I think she is competent. I think she is able to do the job that is before her. But…

I rise today to discuss EPA's joint proposed rule redefining waters of the United States. Claims to the contrary notwithstanding, EPA has once again thrown down the gauntlet with this massive expansion of Federal jurisdiction. This new…

I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk called the roll. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from…

Unfortunately, I believe many current policies are hindering rather than helping growth.

These folks had a rough Mother's Day, and I am hopeful that we can get them appropriate assistance quickly.

I have had the opposite experience. Small businesses really are frustrated with Obamacare, very frustrated.

Businesses have to have capital to grow. They have to have capital to expand, to create jobs.

It seems to me that the way the program is being implemented, it favors large population centers or States, and States like mine, Nebraska, kind of get what is left behind.

I would offer this, if you could take out the Nebraska file, and I hate to sound so parochial, but my office would be more than willing to work with you to see how we can make this program more relevant for our State.

I would welcome you to Nebraska sometime, and we will get a business roundtable together, and you can hear what I have heard.

I think we are going to find that the access issue, which you all consistently say is the problem, is going to be easier to identify than to solve.

I just walk out of the hearing like I have been given an explanation so I will quiet down and let you go back to work, yet I do not see the change that is necessary.

I hope is the first of many, many hearings.

I would agree with Senator Johanns, who indicated, you know, what the heck is going on, when he looks at this and considers the budgets that have been requested.

It is systemic. It is cultural. It is people have just adopted this mode of operation as the way of doing business.

We talk about how to improve the lives of veterans who have served our country.

If VA cannot meet your needs within a certain period of time, then we will allow you, if you choose, to seek private care.

I think all of us agree that the CFTC must have smart, forward-leaning regulation.

I can state unequivocally Congress never intended for nonfinancial end-users to be subject to costly margin requirements.

I do look forward to hearing from the witnesses today regarding the details of your requests as well as your plans to carry out core missions and implement Dodd-Frank in a responsible manner.

total discretionary spending is due to increase this year by about $1.4 billion--or in the next budget year, I should say.

Would you be confident in testifying to the subcommittee today that under the current atmosphere, the current approaches, that Madoff could not repeat what he did some years ago?

The budget request you are making this year admittedly is sizeable. I appreciate you are a little bit different circumstance. But having said that, it is our job to provide oversight wherever the dollar comes from.

I am concerned that it is not on schedule, and I want to learn more about that.