Joe Courtney

We cannot be a permanent crutch. We have to transition.

We want to deny Al Qaeda the ability to return to Afghanistan and use it as a safe haven.

I would hate to see us walk away--or be seen as waking away from those gains.

I encourage you, just in recognition of sort of maintaining the integrity of our effort, that we do everything we can to help the Afghans who have helped us, especially those translators.

Finally, America is also becoming increasingly diverse, and this committee and this Congress must ensure that all students, including students of color and immigrants, are able to afford a college education.

To remain globally competitive and prepare a highly trained workforce, America must continue to invest in federal financial aid programs that support student access and success.

While I commend President Obama for increasing the maximum Pell grant award to $5,785, I strongly believe that all federal student loan programs must ensure that students have affordable college loans now and into the future.

In my view, bolstering investments in Pell Grants and ensuring the program's long-term sustainability is vitally important to expanding access, affordability, and student success.

We really can't miss that date, right, in terms of deploying that first Ohio submarine, because we really start to have a readiness problem if that happens.

Again, I know the Navy has been trying to focus on trying to extract as many savings out of the requirements process.

Again it was at that point projected to be 22 days of furloughs. The last reports I have seen is it is down to 7.

I also want to congratulate or complement both you and the Secretary in terms of getting the 2014 second submarine in the Virginia-class program protected through the CR.

For the record, I mean since 1985 when sequestration was first enacted after Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, Congress never let it go this far.

And although at least there was some partial response by getting the continuing resolution [CR] passed, clearly what we are hearing this morning is that you still have unacceptable risk, that you are still going to be forced to try and…

America buys, people buy insurance for a reason, as a hedge against the unknown.

I hope that people will continue to look at that again.

I want to, again, just end by applauding the work that you did with Congress last year.

I was wondering if you have anything you can share with us this morning about where you see that headed.

I hope I can get that commitment from you here this morning.

I want to thank you for the work that you did in the last Congress regarding the force structure change with the Air National Guard.

We just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Family Medical Leave Act.

That directly undermines the 75-year-old Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Fair Labor Standards Act today would allow employers and employees to negotiate for exactly that kind of flexibility.

There is nothing that is illegal about having--as an employer giving that person that time off as a matter of law.

I am sure Judge Roby, your father, would be proud to see you in that position.