we just need to remember that we are all in this together.

I think we are going to have a vacancy or two here in very short order, and one of the things I am going to do is to suggest to the Administration and the President that we make sure that we have some folks serving on the Board of…

thank you very much for this time to speak. Before Dr. Coburn leaves the floor, I thank him for the kind things he just said. As to Tom Coburn and I--a lot of people say: Well, that is an unlikely duo who would end up working together as…

if things are worth having, they are worth paying for.

I think we should build on the bipartisanship we have.

Some people here in Washington don't seem to be able to distinguish between those two kinds of spending.

this cut would lead to the loss of 3,500 more jobs in Rhode Island.

we also need to be smart about how we do it.

if we don't do this, it is counterproductive. People are going to lose their jobs.

if we don't act, it is terribly counterproductive, 620,000 jobs lost in 2012 alone.

I have introduced legislation again in this Congress with the Department of Interior... to try to create a national park in our State.

If confirmed as the Assistant Secretary, what would be your top priorities during your tenure besides the national park for Delaware?

I just want to say that I hope with your help and the help of my colleagues here in the Senate and over at the House, we hope to change that.

I am confident that you will work to protect the spirit of the letter of the Endangered Species Act.

I think we both agree they are both important.

One of the things that Senator Coburn and I had worked on for a number of years was the issue of improper payments.

Would you suggest that the course we take would be to maybe start with the first State that ratified the Constitution, then the second State?

I also would second the comment about enhanced information sharing and just to ensure that as that occurs, that we take into account privacy and security considerations.

The enormous waste and fraud challenges that we have...call out for very large efforts.

What would be exciting is when it gets to be 2024 and we run out of money in the Medicare Trust Fund.

Well, might that work the other way for the private health insurance companies if they decide not to pay a claim under the Medigap----

We want you to stop making them. Federal agencies, we want you to report them.

I am a big believer in oversight.

The second half of that question--anything you want to add about activities where CMS's performance might be wanting in this regard?

Well, sometimes, like on the beaches, we close our beaches down on Labor Day, so we will see.