Richard Blumenthal

Dr. Macfarlane is a native of Connecticut; she was born in Hartford, raised in Avon, went to Avon High School.

I am very proud to introduce her to this Committee and to support her for this profoundly important position.

This issue is extraordinarily important to Connecticut because of our Connecticut Yankee and our Millstone plants.

I am very, very honored today to introduce Allison Macfarlane, President Obama's nominee to be a Commissioner, in fact, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

I would appreciate any that you can.

I hope that the administration will help persuade the House to retain those measures in whatever emerges from the House, which I hope will be soon.

Well, I think that this position is one of profound importance, although perhaps little understood by the general public.

Thank you, Senator Lee, for your comments and your observations.

I think that fidelity to the rule of law is the hallmark of a good judge.

I consider each of these nominees extraordinarily well qualified.

Thank you, Mr. Berg, and congratulations to the graduates.

My hope is that it will be truly a bipartisan process for you and for all the nominees to these very, very profoundly significant positions.

Nothing is more important than the face and voice of justice in the person of district court judges and other nominees whom we have today.

I am very pleased to call this hearing to order and to welcome Senators Levin and Boxer to introduce nominees from their States.

I think that when we look at the entire country, it is really being aware of what is happening in those areas...

I think it is so important to prevent... the kinds of incidents that are so troubling when they reflect racial and religious tensions.

I regard it as a privilege and an honor to preside at a hearing that has such a consequential role in our justice system.

Each of you knows, as I do, that the role of a district court judge is essentially to follow the law as it has been adopted by the legislature and interpreted by a court that generally is above you or has ruled before you.

I have introduced a bill called the Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011, that would prohibit that kind of----

It would bar employers and agencies from refusing to consider or hire qualified individuals simply because they are unemployed.

I think there's an emerging issue of competition for resources, especially when you see large events moving up the coast absorbing resources as they move.

I urge the Committee to review the MAG system and enact measures ensuring that every state has ready access to adequate numbers of line crews during a disaster;

I want to thank you personally for having this hearing.

There are lessons here that can be learned by States across the country.

We must take proactive steps to prevent outages and protect our communities.