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

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

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).

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.

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.'

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…

We need to figure out how to do it together.

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

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

We have to provide revenue authorities with sufficient funding for effective enforcement.

I am Tom Carper, and I approve that message.

Even so, targeted proposals to improve compliance will not by themselves address this problem.

We need to simplify the tax code, which is what this hearing is all about.

The last time I think we had an analysis of the tax gap, we were told that the size of the tax gap--monies owed for Federal taxes not being collected--was about $385 billion.

I have heard him talk about it in State of the Union Address and I have talked with people like Cass Sunstein.

Guys like me, people who serve in these roles, we do not create jobs.

We are guilty of that, so we have some responsibility.

I am for knowledge and against ignorance.

In closing, let me just note that I am encouraged to hear that Senate Majority Leader McConnell now seems to be moving toward allowing a vote on a clean bill. I hope this change of course is the beginning of the end of this crisis for the…

The real conflict is knowledge versus ignorance, and I urge you all to choose knowledge.

I want to touch again on what you just said about all of the above. Because we have an all of the above energy policy, which I think is good.

What we do is create a nurturing environment for job creation.

I believe the estimated cost of the acid ran program launched by former President George Herbert Walker Bush, I think they estimated the cost of the acid rain program, to be 50 percent higher than what it turned out to be.

I think we have the four right people in front of us.

Regulations are important. We issue them for a number of reasons, including to better protect our health, our safety, our environment, and the economy.