Tom Carper

One of my goals for as long as I am here is to ratchet down that oversight and to give them at least a little bit of relief.

Too often, border security discussions begin and end with how to create more and better barriers at our Southern Border.

I think there was effort, and successful effort, to address each of those points.

As we say in Delaware, the only two words in Latin I know are carpe diem, or Carper diem, seize the day.

I think some additional work on that would be appropriate.

I believe that is a legitimate concern and I think there is middle ground to be found.

Maybe those three Cs, communicate, collaborate and compromise, maybe we are about ready to seize the day.

Thank you for the way you have conducted ourself in this role as our chairman, particularly with respect to this issue.

The best answer I have ever gotten to that question is the two Cs. The two Cs. Communicate and compromise.

I certainly want to say, I want to stop for a minute, Tom Udall has left the room, but you all just tell him I said, bravo.

David, thank you for your patience in working with me and a lot of other folks.

Last month one of my colleagues on this committee, Senator Toomey from the neighboring State of Pennsylvania--which was once part of Delaware--and I introduced legislation.

I view this legislation as the beginning of a dialogue, not the end, on how to reform and improve the Federal tax policy with respect to research.

I strongly believe that in order to save money, we need to make an investment.

I was stunned when I saw the number, the improper payments number, for 2014, because we had seen during a number of years that the number was going down beginning in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.

Somebody needs to, on a lighter note, I once asked a friend of mine, I said, 'Tell me about this Death Master File. What is it?' And he said to me, with tongue in cheek, he said, 'It is a file in which you do not want your name to appear…

I never thought much of improper payments until 2002... I noticed there was an increase in the level of improper payments.

Remember the story about Willie Sutton? They used to say to Willie Sutton, 'Why do you rob banks?' He said, 'That is where the money is.'

If you had been in Delaware, a citizen of Delaware, and you called my office or Senator Chris Coons' office or Congressman John Carney's, we would have been all over this, all over this on your behalf.

At a time when many agencies are struggling with tight budgets and facing sequestration on the horizon, we just cannot afford to be making $125 billion in improper payments like we apparently made last fiscal year (FY).

What should we do differently? Those of us who serve here in Congress, we serve you and the people in all 50 States.

I want you to drill down on that point.

We need to figure out how to do it together.

I am a big believer in the Golden Rule, treat other people the way I want to be treated.

Delaware is the lowest-lying State in the Country. It is a real problem for us.