Very few people understand that if, God forbid, there is a major nuclear disaster in this Country, you know who picks up the bill? It will be the taxpayers of this Country.

Congratulations, Ms. Macfarlane. The President has again found confidence in you and nominated you and his nomination deserves respect.

I congratulate President Obama for the fine nomination, and I look forward to being of assistance as I can.

I hope you will guard against that.

But, Senator McCain raises important questions, and I think it is in the national interest that he does so.

Who decided the new defense guidance? How was that decided?

I have never heard of a situation in which a group of law officers sued their supervisor.

I am also dubious about the idea that there are jobs Americans will not do.

wages have not gone up for the working American over the last 15 or 20 years.

We are not going to hunt those people down and try to deport them.

I do not think we are going to be hunting down those people and seeking to deport them if they do not leave.

the immigration policy of the United States should be established based on the national interest.

I think you should have met with them. I think there is a real problem there.

I do not believe there is scriptural basis for the idea that a modern nation state cannot have a lawful system of immigration and is somehow prohibited from enforcing legitimate laws once they have been passed.

We need to ask what is in the national interest.

I would just note that your comment about the hardship definition and some of the other definitions, all of us need to listen to that because if you get to the point where you do not have clarity in these cases and every case has got to be…

It will pull down those wages. That is what experts tell us, and I think that is absolutely true.

they have undermined their ability to enforce the law

I have said since 2007 we need to deal compassionately with people who have been here a long time in this country.

I think a tight, well-managed temporary seasonal worker program can be beneficial to America and should be considered.

It will have a ripple effect in competing against American workers for even the high-wage jobs.

I could not disagree more. I cannot disagree more about that.

This can have the long-term impact of reducing the salary of people who have entered lawfully.

I believe the interest that needs to be protected is the national interest of the United States, and that includes existing workers today.

This bill gives the Secretary, you, extraordinary discretion if it were to become law in making many, many decisions about how the law would be carried out.