Michael Bennet

Will you commit today that any replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act will not in any way contribute to our deficit or our debt?

Do you support a budget that increases the debt by $10 trillion?

Will you commit as a member of the Tea Party that no replacement for this dreadful Obamacare that allegedly created this deficit and debt will add to the deficit and debt?

The idea that that should be a precedent for the Democrats, eight of whom are here tonight, to ask questions, even followups to questions that we've heard tonight, is really unfair and uncharacteristic.

Thank you for your willingness to do this, and I'd like to invite you to Denver, to the Denver Public Schools, if you'd be willing to come, to see what we're working on there.

I really wish we had a second round of questions, too.

I think it is critical for the HELP Committee to explore current practices in the personal care and cosmetics industry, including safety concerns and regulatory oversight.

Thank you and the Ranking Member, Patty Murray, for holding this hearing today.

It is terribly irresponsible not to spend money on the front end.

You do not have a Forest Service; you have a fire department.

Just for the benefit of the committee, I'd love to go down the line here and ask you what the one or two things are that you would like us to keep in the forefront of our minds as we think about and as we consider legislating in the area…

First, let me thank you and Senator Hatch and Senator Burr and the committee for really jump-starting the Breakthrough Therapy Designation and getting it passed into law.

Any test that is used to guide medical decisionmaking should be held to the same standards, no matter where it's developed.

I think there's not really any other reason for the Federal Government to be involved in education other than that at the K-12 level.

One of the things that is certainly true of the change in the law is that we have devolved the responsibility for implementation back to the States in a fairly significant way.

You know, it is Pride Month, and we have our Pride parade this Sunday in Denver. For the last 10 years, that is how we have celebrated Father's Day. Father's Day coincides with Denver's Pride parade, and my wife and children and I all go…

I thank the Senator from Connecticut, and I would say to the Senator from Connecticut, those attempting to disparage the size of Connecticut--being from Colorado, I certainly won't do that, but I would ask you to share the biggest concern…

Time is not on our side.

As Senator Bennet said, we have to flip what's going on in this country.

I want a guarantee of strong, appropriate Federal oversight as we move forward.

If we don't have a solution to the kids that are showing up to kindergarten having heard 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers, if kids don't have a choice of a school that any of us would send our kid to, and if higher…

There is no relationship between salary level and teacher effectiveness.

It's a disgrace what we pay teachers in the United States.

It's the reason I worked so hard to try to close the comparability loophole. We didn't get there.

We believe that, moving forward, it is imperative that steps are taken in future reauthorizations to safeguard services for all seniors regardless of their State of residence. It is our hope that as Congress continues to address issues…