Tom Carper

Transparency is key. It helps ensure that the Census is on track.

These Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees are really very important, because they have members who come from diverse minority communities and work very well together.

We maybe ought to give serious consideration to whoever is going to be serving as our Census Bureau Directors in the future.

I think you could be effective with either scenario. I think what is most important, though, is to get the right leadership and the right management processes in place.

I support it. Most critical decisions for the Census occur between 3 to 5 years before that Census.

They should hire a workforce that is ethnically and racially diverse and represents the hard-to-count and minority community populations.

I pressed this morning on the President's nominee for Commerce.

Last month, I sent a letter to President Obama urging him to nominate a new Director as soon as possible.

I believe we are at a critical juncture. I don't think it is overstating things to say that the 2010 Census is approaching a state of emergency.

The importance of having an ad campaign and a well thought-out ad campaign.

I think it is close to four feet, maybe four to five feet.

I think in my State, the highest point of land in my State is a bridge.

About 125,000 years ago, when we had warming more or less at the same level that we are heading toward today, but that was for very different reasons, we had sea level rise of several meters.

Some would say there still are.

That was pretty good, Senator Merkley. Very good.

Over the last 650,000 years, we have had remarkable stability in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere.

I certainly want to encourage you, to the extent that you can, to be transparent, more transparent and accountable.

We should not be surprised that the Postal Service is struggling as well.

I think I walk away from this hearing with a better understanding of how we find ourselves in this situation.

I think coming--something that should accompany that would be a plan, something that can be shared, explained, and can be used as an oversight tool to help you.

I would just urge the Subcommittee to keep those in mind.

So, again, no recommendations, but these are options for Congress to consider.

One area that we have not talked about today is the debt limit. It is $15 billion.

So that would be your first option.

Didn't you do this in the earlier part of this decade as we were coming out of a recession, 6, 7, or 8 years ago?