Richard Blumenthal

He also has the support of the two Wyoming Senators, whom we welcome today, and we appreciate your being here, both Senator Enzi and Senator Barrasso.

I am very proud to preside as the Chairman.

Today we are considering two very qualified nominees to fill important posts that ensure that the American people are truly served with justice and have access to our justice system.

I firmly believe that you will solve this problem because you have been so effective at solving similar issues.

I view today's hearing as a cooperative effort, cooperative between this panel and our DOD, in seeking to address a problem that ought to have zero tolerance, literally zero tolerance.

I believe that we have in our military, right now the next greatest generation, and that if we can deal with this problem, we will assure that we continue to have that quality of people in the military.

This issue really demands immediate action and not just tinkering around the edges.

Your testimony in particular--really all of your testimony--calls attention to the need for prevention.

Civilian victims who come forward do so in a highly intimidating process, and they have needed... advocacy.

Well, I think we are discouraging the fraudsters from engaging in transactions.

I appreciate that. And what would you say to people who might complain that it discourages unbanked or underbanked people from engaging in legitimate transfers?

And that blocking of the transaction is really key, is it not, because it is a lot easier to block it than recover----

These kinds of scams are a real scourge, not only on vulnerable populations, but on everyone.

I appreciate that answer, which was excellent. It actually answered some of my follow-up questions.

My message to everyone is, it is not an either/or decision.

I think we ought to pay closer attention.

I am troubled in general by rate increases that aren't based on competitive factors.

Are you aware of any transaction of similar size that has been approved at the Bureau level rather than being circulated for a vote by the Commission?

I strongly urge the Commission to take up the issue for wireless consumers sooner rather than later.

I want to thank my colleague, Senator Klobuchar, for her leadership, as well, on the unlocking bill, which I have been very glad and proud to cosponsor.

Grave concern, deeply troubling, especially to many in Connecticut...

My information is that none of this size, in terms of dollars and impact on consumers, has ever been approved by the Bureau as opposed to by the Commission.

Thank you for holding this hearing.

I think about the young people who put their lives on the line in service to our Nation, young women in particular, and look at the numbers that you see repeatedly year after year, and that is an extremely disturbing thing to think that…

I would like your commitment, again, to work with me and others here on the possibility of an investigation based on those disclosures that undermine the good faith and fairness of that settlement.