Tom Carper

As a former Governor I will be especially interested in our witnesses' perspectives on the proper role and the success of States in managing species so they do not end up on threatened and endangered species lists.

I am also always interested in how we create a more nurturing environment for job creation and job preservation.

Everything I do I know I can do better. I think that is true for all of us.

I want to make sure that at the end of the day the original purpose for the Endangered Species Act to preserve the species that the good Lord put on this planet to share this planet with us, that we have done them no harm.

I just want to commend you and Senator Heitkamp for doing this, and picking up the legacy from Danny Akaka and George Voinovich, who worked on this in a bipartisan way is just hugely important.

Harry Truman used to say that the only thing new in the world is the history we forgot or never learned.

It is a ton of freight from D.C. to Boston, one gallon of diesel fuel.

I think it is ridiculous that in the U.S. we don't have the rail as an option in urban areas.

Yes, moving toward user fees is helpful.

Should we stick with the user fee?

We have a history in this country of a user pay approach; those who use roads, highways, bridges pay for them, directly or indirectly.

I hope that my colleagues, as we consider what our next infrastructure investments should be, will understand that in our coasts we not only get all the other effects of climate change, but we get this rising sea level and then the…

I would just say to my colleagues we spent a fortune on that bridge, new bridge, and the next hurricane that comes along, it could further undermine that bridge if we don't invest in the dune protection and in the beach protection.

Is there a lesson there for us in the Congress?

Our new President has raised the issue of America needing to modernize and rebuild aged infrastructure.

If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

Things that are worth having are worth paying for.

If you present your best judgment to the President that he is literally going down the wrong track... what would you do?

The last time we had a balanced budget... was fiscal years 1998 to 2001, the last four budgets of the Clinton Administration.

He wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but the Committee for a Responsible Budget tells us that the cost of doing so in terms of our budget deficit is to increase it by anywhere from $150 to $350 billion.

He has spoken, as I am sure you know, in favor of a number of steps or actions that are of interest to us, I think to us all.

I would be careful about turning it around because I remember what it was 8 years ago.

I was pleased to hear the President say that under his plan, health insurance will be better and less expensive for all Americans.

There is a large building, and there are people in the large building. And there is a fire in the large building, but for some reason they cannot use the stairways and they cannot use the elevators.

What we sought to do with the ACA was to do something about it.