Richard Shelby

The Israeli cooperative programs that we've been engaged in is--provides them with missile defense in their backyard.

Well, given choices, and that's what you have to make in your role here, between $4 billion on better sensors versus building an East Coast ground-based missile defense, what's your choice?

I worry as well about providing more funds than you can responsibly allocate and spend.

Clearly, underfunding national defense is a mistake.

Congress appropriated in 2018 $11.5 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, which is greater than 5--greater than $3 billion above the initial request by the President.

The missile itself you believe is very sound, though.

You referenced the Aegis Ashore system. Could you give us an update on the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor that we've developed, you've developed, with Japan?

Moving over to Iran now because down the road a lot of us believe they pose a missile threat and probably a nuclear threat.

As much as you can in this setting here, could you explain how the threat from North Korea is advancing and describe the importance, General, of improving and expanding our homeland missile defenses?

So where does this new East Coast-based missile defense site rank in your priority list?

That's almost a 40 percent increase. That's a dramatic increase for any agency.

The market always corrects.

See if the fundamentals are sound.

Of course, we all know that when the market is going up, people are elated. That is natural.

I am hoping that we will give you every tool you need to do your job and to hire the people that you need to execute that.

But part of your mandate, the Securities and Exchange Commission, is to protect the investor. Is that right?

But at the same time, this currency, these cryptocurrencies, they lack intrinsic value, it seems to me.

How do you think the economy will continue to grow? I like what I see out there. We feel it. People have got confidence. Do you feel like it is going to continue to move forward?

What should we do first? Should we worry about the financial system? Sure. Should we worry about our electrical grid? Sure. But we also have to worry, first of all, about national security and the implications of penetrating through…

But should not the infrastructure bill, from the standpoint of our future economy, the infrastructure in this country is so important to move goods, people, services, and be one of our top priorities?

We keep talking about infrastructure. How are we going to come up--how is the Trump administration? I think a lot of Democrats and Republicans both know that we need an infrastructure bill.

Thank you for your service. Also, I would be remiss if I did not thank you for your leadership and your steady hand in dealing with the tax reform measure.

I hope they have sufficient funds. If they do not have sufficient funds--I am putting on my appropriator's hat now--we will get you the sufficient funds.

We need to make sure America is open for business.

But we do not want to give away something that would do us harm--do harm to national security. Is not that the bottom line?