The primary consideration for the Department of Defense (DOD) would not be the financial cost of termination but the enormous impact that contract cancellation would have on our mission in Afghanistan.

I would respectfully suggest... the sooner and better we can make those records systems completely interoperable and make the health care system completely seamless, the better it will be.

I think the reason for my questioning is basing more of these ships in the United States means more jobs in the United States.

Is it true that the Guard will be receiving the A&L model aircraft?

Does an alternative method exist for certifying the air worthiness of various Mi-17 helicopters that would avoid engagement with or dependence upon the Russian manufacturer?

They are dependent on those helicopters until they are not.

I'm somewhat disappointed to see... that both the Navy and the Marine Corps are reducing available funds.

Measures like automatic train control...might well have prevented needless tragedy.

The need for action...indicate the need for action.

I really look forward to working and cooperating with you.

I thought so, and as you know, Ms. Caldwell was responsible for the Enron prosecution, so she is certainly aware and sensitive to the importance of whistleblowers in major prosecutions.

unprecedented in our modern experience, would create, expand, advance, and extend a number of VA benefits, services, and programs that are important to the DAV and to our members.

I am here very proudly and gratefully to support the nomination of Jeffrey Meyer as a U.S. district court judge for the District of Connecticut. I am proud because of his extraordinary credentials. I am grateful to President Obama and…

I thank my distinguished colleagues for recognizing my sons' service. One is a marine reservist deployed to Afghanistan and the other is a Navy officer currently in further training. I thank them and offer my support to the goals they have…

I may be the only person on this Committee who feels this way, but I believe that the disclosure that only 30 percent of these records are actually collected and that the proportion has plummeted since 2006 is a real game changer.

This is probably the most overseen program in the history of the American intelligence community.

There is no telling whether the U.S. Supreme Court will resolve those critical issues and when it will do so.

Wouldn't you agree with me that the U.S. Government has misled the courts, whether purposefully or inadvertently, in justifying this program on the basis that all telephone records are collected?

I ask unanimous consent that Margaret Taylor, a detailee from the State Department to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, be granted floor privileges today in anticipation of votes on nominations and for the rest of the 113th Congress…

Thank you. I am happy to give other members of the panel an opportunity to speak separately by way of introduction, but if not, why don't I just begin with some questions.

Even with counsel. And without it, reliance on a judge is often hazardous.

none of the oversight was adversarial in nature, which is why I propose the constitutional advocate.

Issue spotting is a challenging business.

I believe that the constitutional advocate, far from being a lightweight institution, has to be a real heavyweight to protect the Constitution.

The bottom line is nobody knows what the Supreme Court would say when confronted with such an extensive and ongoing program of this kind.