Richard Blumenthal

I want to thank you for having this hearing focusing on such a critically and profoundly important issue in American society today.

This bill will enable the Upper and Lower Collinsville Dams, which have been dormant since the 1960s, to have their licenses reinstated.

I want to thank in particular Senator Lieberman, who is an author of S. 715.

I am here to advocate for a bill that would enable the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reinstate the license necessary for the Town of Canton, Connecticut to operate 2 hydroelectric dams on the Farmington River.

Support among affected stakeholders is bipartisan and nearly universal.

I think that greatly increased activity may have a lot of payoff.

But I am struck that some of the practices that have led to the breaches most recently are the equivalent of a bank leaving the vault open without any guards at the door: failure to encrypt, failure to take basic safeguards.

The American people may have insufficient awareness of the potential for this threat

My own view is that America's next 9/11 may well be a cyber attack.

I will vote today against cloture on amendment No. 436, dealing with subsidies for the ethanol industry, because its author used inappropriate procedural tactics to attach it to an unrelated bill devoted to economic development. I support…

Senator Blumenthal is certainly to be praised for the priority he is placing on this Nation's veterans.

I am committed to a sustained and consistent effort to honor all veterans and open to the ideas from my colleagues on how to modify these proposals.

Veterans would not have the chiropractic care and support they have today without your leadership.

Every veteran in the Nation should have the same immediate access to chiropractic care that Connecticut offers.

I hope for bipartisan support. I think that keeping faith with our veterans should command support from both sides of the aisle.

I share your views about Director Mueller.

But wouldn't it be fair to say that we have no direct, clear guidance from the Supreme Court at least on the issues at stake here?

I believe that before serving on the bench, you were a defense attorney and a prosecutor for various periods of time. Is that true?

You will be, if confirmed, the face and voice of justice for countless individuals who will come before you.

Thank you very much, Judge Scola. Let me say by way of preface, to each of you, thank you for being willing to take on this responsibility.

I am joined by Senator Grassley in the strong feeling that we have an obligation to move forward and advance this nominations process in the Senate.

You will need to address each of them with the kind of care and sensitivity, as well as intellect, that your background has prepared you to provide.

I bring a little bit of the same perspective, having been United States Attorney in Connecticut for 4.5 years before I was Attorney General.

I am grateful to Chairman Leahy for giving me this opportunity to preside this afternoon and to Senator Grassley, the Ranking Member, for being here with us.

If the education is substandard, if it fails to meet minimum quality criteria, it shouldn't be in business.