Tom Carper

Isn't it great to know what you were put on this Earth to do? Isn't that great?

First, let me thank Senator Flake for a very thoughtful statement. It reminds me a little bit of what Senator Reid has been asking for by unanimous consent for a week or two; that is, to actually forgo cloture votes and that sort of thing…

One of the things we need to do is develop consensus around the legislation that has been introduced

I think that was a point you made, too, Senator Carper, in your opening remarks, that we care about the benefits and the outcomes of the regulations.

OK, good. We are going to come back--I will come back to you with some questions in writing.

I actually jotted down while others were asking questions some of the ways that we in the Congress can help contribute positively or negatively to this process.

These Executive Orders have, as you heard here, broad bipartisan support.

One of those is by passing legislation that is clear and unambiguous, and it reduces the need for the regulators to come in and kind of put the meat on the bones.

What the Executive Orders say and what the codification of it says, it is talking about regulatory impact analysis, not just benefit-cost analysis.

That is a helpful thought. Thank you.

It is not that we do not have the ability to have an impact on the regulations. We actually have a lot of opportunities to provide input on the regulations.

I also think that Senator Heitkamp's bill is really valuable because it does--right now we would be making those decisions without good data.

We can have both, and we have over the years strengthened our economy and, frankly, provided safer places for us to live, work, and breathe.

We try to help people, and one of the best ways to help people is to make sure they have a job.

Well, I am a U.S. Senator. There are 100 of us. We work with 435 Representatives and the President and the Vice President to make the rules for our country. We call them 'laws.'

It was a very moving, sobering, inspiring moment.

It is a false choice to say that we cannot do both. We have to do both, and we need to use some common sense.

But a big part of that is access to capital--nurturing our environment and access to capital.

We are grateful for all of you.

We are blessed with I think more five star beaches than any State in America.

Let me just close by saying this. Senator Booker and I talked about the moral imperative that we have in this country, to look out for the least of these.

I would like to listen to you for the rest of the morning, but I only have two more minutes.

The overwhelming majority of people who are incarcerated are going to come out some day.

Somebody, some Governor in some State has dealt with this issue. Figure out how to deal with it and do so successfully.

I want to thank Senator Booker for encouraging us to hold this important hearing.