I would say in conclusion, as I look on the floor and I see Senators from Alabama, from Maryland, from Maine, from Connecticut, agriculture touches each of these States. It touches them differently. Agriculture is truly a matter of…

I rise to talk about the business on the floor, which is the Omnibus appropriations bill. Let me start by thanking Chairwoman Mikulski for her leadership. She has put long hours in on this over the Christmas and New Year's break. When most…

That is exactly right. Had we not had those food inspectors, it literally could have shut down the poultry plants--but also the beef and pork and other types of facilities--overnight. It could have shut them down and been very disruptive…

We sure do. We handle, as the Senator says, everything from artichokes to catfish and everything in between. In our bill we take the entire Department of Agriculture, with the exception of forestry--that goes to another subcommittee--and…

I think this topic is critically important.

We definitely support collaboration, but we also realize that there are times, there are occasions when we do need a regulatory body to help us go down that path.

But, as it happens, I think most consumers would be surprised to know that if you are calling from a wireless phone, the 911 system may not be able to locate exactly where that person in need is.

So you think just, kind of, the nature of 4G LTE helps this issue considerably indoors?

There is no question that a call to 911 may be the most important call that you will ever make.

It doesn't make any sense if there is an expectation from a consumer that you are paying for 911 funds out of their hard-earned money and it is being redirected to close budget shortfalls.

we should never lose sight that the consumer, the end user, is critically important in making this whole thing work.

Thank you for your work on this and many other issues related to this. So thank you for your great service and leadership on that.