Bill Nelson

Remember that Donald Trump in the campaign said that he was not going to cut Medicare spending.

I have in the State of Florida 4 million-plus seniors on Medicare, and they are petrified of the idea of privatized Medicare.

I would like very much for you to keep that in mind because we have to come up with a plan.

Another financial disaster is what is happening in Puerto Rico, not only because of what they are at fault about, but also in the unequal way that they have been treated by the law.

I ask that, in your position with this awesome authority as Treasury Secretary, that you put yourself in those shoes.

The effects would be devastating so much so that my colleague, a Republican former Senator, Senator Mel Martinez, joined with me for all of the reasons that I've stated, and we put in law, off limits until the year 2022 drilling in the…

And I would, finally, appeal to you, as a Floridian who lives on the coast, that there is not only a tourist industry, which is an $85 billion a year industry, in Florida, almost a million jobs connected with tourism, much of which depends…

You have comported yourself quite well.

So, too, we're going to show you the amazing River of Grass, the Everglades.

And eventually they become full-time.

I hope you agree with me on the need to continue vital scientific research to inform the public about extreme weather events and trends over time.

I know some people think climate change is a hoax.

That shouldn't happen and that should be troubling to all of us.

I hope that you will agree on the need to continue vital scientific research to inform the public about extreme weather events and trends over time.

Given that expanded role and the incoming President's desire to make job creation and overhauling trade deals top priorities, I hope that we'll hear from you today.

I hope that President Trump will follow your lead and the example that you set to eliminate any business dealings that could pose potential conflicts of interest.

I believe that's the right thing to do, and it tells me that you are committed to doing the job the right way by placing the public's interest ahead of your own.

Well, Mr. Chairman, just in closing, I will point out that NOAA and NASA measurements over the course of the last 4 decades have shown in southeast Florida that the sea level has risen from 5 to 8 inches.

The only way we are going to get an infrastructure bill done is to have it done in a bipartisan way.

In order to get these infrastructure projects done with Federal funding, we need to know what the Administration is proposing.

Do you commit to provide this Committee with details of your plan for infrastructure funding, particularly your recommendations on the Federal funding?

The technology is there, we just need to implement it.

What we're doing with NextGen is we're basically going to have air traffic control off of satellites instead of radars.

It is so important that we get a full FAA reauthorization, a multiyear.

I hope, Madam Secretary, that we will get a commitment from you that you will look out for the traveling public by ensuring that they have basic consumer protections.