Richard Blumenthal

I hope the promise again is not just to be briefed, but also to take action.

Would you plan to make sure that that deadline is fulfilled and that, in fact, Positive Train Control, which is a life-saving technology, is implemented by 2018?

I know there's a tendency sometimes to be dismissive about these kinds of recommendations. I hope that you will make them a priority.

I hope that we can work together to make that happen and build a bipartisan consensus in favor of it.

We see this issue particularly in Connecticut on our roads and bridges, but also the safety and reliability and speed of our rail system.

I look forward to working with you on issues that concern investment in infrastructure.

I look forward to working with you.

A decision that essentially guts one of the essential features of that law is not really good news for the South or the country.

Would you not agree that there is a continued need for enforcement of voting rights laws in the South, and other areas of the country?

Do you agree that the Shelby County v. Holder decision was 'good news,' which is what Senator Sessions called it?

I am very concerned, as Senator Coons articulated so well, about a number of Senator Sessions' views on issues which seem to be out of the mainstream and hostile to basic civil rights and liberties.

The role that you would have as United States Attorney General ought to be not just another Government lawyer, but as a champion of civil rights and liberties and the Nation's legal conscience.

I would hope that you would consider appointing special counsel in cases where there may be a conflict of interest involving the President.

He should be a champion, a zealous advocate of rights and liberties that are increasingly under threat in this country.

I believe it would be a conflict of interest for you to vote on other Cabinet secretaries.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for conducting this hearing in such a fair-minded and deliberate way.

I would just point out, it's an obvious point, that--the difference between 10 years, 7 years, 3 years, 15 years--these are all sort of arbitrary time periods.

Civilian control over the Department of Defense and the military in general is really a bedrock principle, one of the founding principles of this democracy recognized from the inception of our great Nation.

As a candidate, the President-elect indicated that he would be in favor of the ample use of torture, not only against suspected terrorists, but against their families.

What is your assessment of this report and North Korea's progress in development of its cyber capabilities?

The response to cyber attacks need not be one in the cyber domain and in fact might be even more effective if it hits their economy and their pocketbook.

I think some of the disparagement has been a terrible disservice to our Nation and to the very brave and courageous men and women who put their lives at risk.

I appreciate the extraordinary humility of that statement, especially in light of the excellence and expertise that your organization and you personally have brought.

Comparing it to the judgment made about weapons of mass destruction in the Iraq situation is totally a red herring, totally wrong.

There is no question about the disparagement. There is no question about the dismissing and demeaning of the intelligence community, entirely unmerited.