Richard Shelby

If the debt continues to accumulate and becomes unsustainable, as the Congressional Budget Office believes our current policies are, then the only way that can end is through a crisis or some other very bad outcome.

Long-term unemployment problems is a cancer dealing with our economy and people's operations.

Some observers warn of growing risk in the $2.8 trillion municipal debt market.

I want to get into the area of small business lending. Mr. Chairman, I hear reports of a credit crunch for small businesses and calls by other people to initiate more government programs to jump start lending in this area.

Judging by the minutes of the Fed's June Open Market Committee meeting and statements by Fed officials, uncertainty about the economic outlook has risen recently.

The Federal Reserve faces, as all of you know, some of the greatest challenges it has ever confronted.

I think that there have been a number of lessons learned, and there is clearly a lot of blame to go around.

I think it is inexcusable.

The nominees for positions on the Federal Reserve Board, if approved, will face difficult and important decisions for the American economy.

I think there was quite a bit of misjudgment regarding asset quality, including the quality of mortgage-backed securities.

The Fed often seems more interested in seeking additional power and authority, even though it failed to use its current authorities in the run-up to the crisis.

The economy is highly vulnerable and there is little clarity with respect to the best way forward.

I question the centralized approach to planning that is being advocated today.

Decision making should always be made at the State and local level.

Simply halting all offshore development, I believe, will not address our energy needs and would immediately increase our dependence on foreign oil.

We need to ensure that techniques utilized in recovery efforts are safe and that we protect our environmentally sensitive areas.

This oil spill could become our Nation's worst environmental disaster in decades.

As long as this oil continues to pour into the Gulf, we have a real--and an unprecedented--disaster.

We are making progress. We might not be making progress as quickly as some people would like. Maybe we did spend a lot of time on this amendment, but it is very important. We have debated it. I guess it has been disposed of, at least that…

I have just laid down an amendment--the Republican alternative to the consumer products--and a lot of people are going to want to debate it on both sides. We are not here to delay this bill in any way. I think it is so important and it is…

I am opposed to NIJ's efforts of bailing out their friends with taxpayer dollars to cheapen the quality of evidence.

The fiscal year 2011 budget request for the Department of Justice is $29 billion. This is a $1.5 billion, or 5 percent increase, over the fiscal year 2010 request.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. And thank you, Attorney General Holder, for joining us to discuss the Department of Justice and its fiscal year 2011 budget request.

Via the Second Chance Act, the Department of Justice is requesting $140 million to educate and mentor terrorists, pedophiles and career criminals--while requesting minimal funds for reducing the DNA backlog and tracking the monsters that…

First, I want to recognize and extend my appreciation and support to the men and women of the Department of Justice who protect this country from crime and terrorism.