Tom Carper

I encourage our Administration to continue its work to drive the international community toward a broader global agreement in Paris.

When it comes to global challenges, the United States doesn't just sit back and wait for someone else to lead. We lead.

I think we're at the fork in the road, and my hope is that we will take it.

Leadership is the most important thing. And leadership is demonstrated in a variety of ways.

We face a lot of threats, but no greater environmental threat than the threat of climate change.

We cannot do this alone. We have to work cooperatively with our neighbors around the world.

Climate change is real. Global warming is real. Sea level rise is real.

The science is clear. Our future generations face no greater environmental threat.

I will speak for 10 minutes on transportation, and then we will have our caucus lunch.

These pop-up schools... I believe they are overstated.

There is a loophole that allows some of them to get up to 100 percent.

The greatest predictor of kids doing well in school is the expectation of their parents.

I love competition, and it has been engendered by public school choice and charter schools.

I do not want us to be precipitous about putting limits on the ability to recruit great schools.

Today, veterans coming back from Afghanistan, if they served 3 years in our military, they can go to school--they can go to Rutgers free, tuition paid for, everything is paid.

Could competition help us? Sure, it can.

Some of them are not. They are diploma mills. They are preparing students for jobs that do not exist.

Find out what works and do more of that.

We focused on raising student achievement, thought it was the most important thing that we did.

Thanks for holding the hearing today, and to our witnesses, three of my favorite people are lined up here before us.

If I could interrupt just for a moment? The legislation that we passed last year, Dr. Coburn and I authored, co-authored it, on trying to figure out on the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)...

I said yesterday it was one of my happiest days in my 15 years in the Senate, and you all played a big role in getting us on the right path, so thanks.

Because you are a Governor and that is what Governors do.

As Senator Lieberman knows, we think a lot about avian influenza, and he knows all about chickens in Delaware.

I told everybody what a great guy you were. And you turned out to be a great Governor.