I think what Senator Durbin said earlier is--one of the things many of us are concerned about is how do we get the disincentive for the bad behavior.

It seems to me that the one thing that I have noticed about the way things could happen in our present society is we just do not have disincentives for bad behavior.

while Medicare Part D has been a very popular program and has improved access to tens of millions of patients, the donut hole has been a continuing source of frustration for many beneficiaries. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care…

I have supported literally since 1992... a 2-year test drive for line-item veto power for the President.

I think we have the opportunity here for us, for Senator Feingold and myself, and hopefully Senator Voinovich and Senator Coburn and others to join forces on another good idea.

I have opposed granting the President line-item veto authority to effectively reshape programs like Medicare and Medicaid, for this specific category, I support giving the President this additional tool.

I would suggest that we provide him the power, probably not forever but for maybe 4 years.

It seems like a month or two ago when you were good enough to come and testify before a Subcommittee that I chair on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

This is just a way to go after one particular and very important aspect of the spending challenge we face.

If we look at our budget deficit that we face, from the years 2001 to 2008 we racked up as much new debt in those 8 years as we did in, I think, the previous 208 years of our Nation's history.

I really appreciate your testimony.

I have always said on an idea of mine, if I cannot get 50 of my colleagues to vote with me for it in the U.S. Senate, then maybe we should not be spending that money.

He has been a true champion of taxpayers, and his work in this area is another example of that leadership.

If this legislation is adopted--my hope is that it will--it would establish for the first time a national park in the State of Delaware.

Mr. Chairman, thank you so much.

let me start off by thanking Senator Corker for all the time and energy he and Courtney and others on his staff have put into this issue, both in committee and as we come to the floor. Last week, Senator Corker and I and about 11 other…

let me try to be clear on one point, as we come to the close of this discussion. For States or their national banks, under what is proposed and what would occur under our amendment, if a State AG wants to try to enforce a State law on a…

They are not going to access the oil spill fund, nor will they take advantage of the $75 million liability cap.

The impacts of this oil spill on our ocean and our ecosystem may well be devastating.

As a Vietnam veteran, I remember all too well the exposure not just to folks in Vietnam, but to our military personnel, the exposure to Agent Orange and the unanticipated consequence of health damages really to both groups.

I think there has been a proposal to lift that $1 billion to $1.5 billion.

It is always nice to see you. Thank you for coming today.

Last week, you announced your intention to restructure MMS in order to establish a separate and independent safety environmental enforcement entity for oil drilling.

Today I am asking the General Accountability Office to examine how the Federal Government is protecting against fraudulent claims to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

My heart goes out to the folks impacted by this accident in the Gulf--to the families of the workers that were injured or died and to the fishermen that may lose everything.