Thank you for effectively addressing many of the questions surrounding Fast and Furious.

I wonder whether we can expect criminal investigations or other investigations that will be aimed at going after fraudulent documents.

I thank the Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Corker, for very graciously beginning this discussion. I want to join in thanking the distinguished Senator from Delaware for all of his hard work and his very successful and insightful discussion…

Again, my thanks to my very distinguished colleague from Tennessee whose leadership and contribution to this bill has been instrumental from the very start. I welcome him and have been thankful for his partnership on this issue. As my…

I thank and commend my distinguished colleague from Michigan for those very eloquent remarks on behalf of an act that I too rise to support. I thank the Presiding Officer for his very eloquent and persuasive comments earlier in this debate…

I am pleased to call this hearing to order and thank Chairman Leahy, the Senator from Vermont, for giving me the chance to chair this very, very important hearing.

I rise today to recognize October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This disease affects people everywhere of all walks of life, taking the lives of approximately 40,000 women in our country each year. In Connecticut, over 3,000…

On October 31, 2011, President Obama issued an emergency declaration covering the entire State--all eight Connecticut counties.

How could this be, my constituents would ask.

This problem--and you know it much, much better than I--affects not only human rights, but also security on the bases.

Secretary Kendall, you stated that DOD requires a provision in its contracts that specifically prohibits human trafficking by Federal contractors.

Thank you, Senator Franken.

Secretary Kendall, to assess your ongoing efforts to combat human trafficking, please provide the following information concerning human trafficking violations for fiscal year 2011:

I have a number of measures that have been reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee to address human trafficking by contractors on our military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq not only because it is immoral, but also because it is…

If any companies have been suspended or debarred for human trafficking in particular?

It is my understanding that upon receipt of information that involves trafficking in persons by a contractor, the Under Secretary of AT&L works to ensure that the appropriate contracting officer implements a remedy.

That a brochure--and I don't doubt the good intentions and the determination of DOD to address this problem.

Thank you very much, Judge Nguyen. We appreciate your being here, and good luck to you, and thank you for your service to our Nation.

The criminal cases, in particular sentencing, is probably the most awesome responsibility a Federal judge has.

And I do not know how it works in your district, but I know in Connecticut magistrate judges write opinions, they take pleas, they hear motions, pretty much-- well, a great deal of the duties that a district court judge does.

I think sentencings are particularly difficult because it involves somebody's liberty interest.

Senator McCaskill has been working in this area and has a legislative proposal that begins or more than beginning, but addresses this issue.

I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act

I agree with my colleague from Alabama that the Senate can no longer deal with serious issues relating to economic and national security as if we were doing business as usual. I have slightly different views--in some instances, radically…

I cannot in my capacity as a judge equalize resources, if you will.