I have been a strong supporter of the move to Next Generation (``Next Gen'') 911 services.

I am concerned, however, about the level of coordination on the Next Gen 911 effort.

over-centralization of the [carrier] port structure is not a good strategic move . . . the Navy should have two carrier-capable homeports on each coast.

it would be a serious strategic mistake to have all of those key assets of our Navy tied up in one port.

In peacetime, the [airlift] workload changes from year-to-year due to dynamic customer requirements.

The question is, what kind of a democracy do we have, and do we move to higher standards, which still exist in the world now, or do we unravel what we have?

I had a conversation last year with the chief negotiator in Brussels for the European Union, and, at the time, he was cautiously optimistic that we could get an agreement.

Madam President, I wish to speak on another matter pending in front of the Senate, the flood insurance bill. I wish to say that Senator Landrieu has been a real champion here. We are still insisting that we be able to bring up the…

New Zealand will continue to play a crucial role in U.S. rebalance efforts toward Asia.

I am very pleased to introduce to the committee an outstanding Floridian--Mr. Mark Gilbert--to be our next Ambassador to New Zealand.

Our continued security and economic cooperation with New Zealand will continue to be very important.