Brian Schatz

Is it possible that the Attorney General is a witness in this investigation?

What is the Attorney General allowed to be involved in, and what is he not allowed to be involved in?

I think that's a great point. Technology, and particularly communications and information portions of technology, are pervasive in our economy.

This ought not to be a partisan issue.

All I want is your commitment to work with us, understanding that coming from an island in the Pacific, coming from a place that is far away, that we're going to need to work with you in a way that may be different from all the other…

The government must increase its investment in projects that will support the movement of goods and people by land, sea, and air.

This is not forced upon us except that it is the priority of this Administration to cut taxes in the amount of anywhere from $1 to $5 trillion over the next 10 years.

I think it's important for us to make policy and not devolve all of our authority to the Executive Branch in this instance.

I am worried in the extreme about the lack of leadership positions for which we have a nominee at all in the Defense Department, in the State Department.

We do not have enough money. If we could do more, we would do more.

We want to make $9 billion worth of cuts. We think this in the best interest of public education and private education, because we think the Federal Government should play less of a role, and the burden should shift to the private sector…

State funding for education has been declining at all levels.

The budget calls for $9 billion in cuts to the Department of Education.

I wanted to talk to you about climate change and I promise not to get into politics.

It does not seem to me that it is incompatible to reiterate our ironclad commitment and say to our allies in Japan, 'Would you permit us some flexibility in order to do this in a smart way?'

It is just that we should be planful and thoughtful and judicious with taxpayer dollars.

I really would like the Marine Corps and the Office of the Secretary to continue, while we maintain our ironclad commitment to fulfill our obligation to our best ally in the Asia Pacific region.

Make no mistake, while this is an important step, it is not enough.

This subcommittee has expressed repeated concerns, ones that DOD leaders and commanders have echoed at these hearings, over time underinvestment in MILCON will negatively impact mission.

June 6th is the day to remember the importance of American military resolve and the commitment of our allies.

I want to ask you about how this impacts your progress and planning?

Before I move into my remarks, I would like to say welcome back to the Senator from North Carolina. We are happy to see him hale and hardy. I was worried until I saw your little internet video and you looked fine. It is nice to see you. We…

But you are saying: You know what? We are just going to ignore CBO and just hope, allege, assert that tax cuts always generate more revenue and pay for themselves.

What concerns me is that it seems to me that you are very sure about where you want to cut taxes and you are very vague about how you want to generate the revenue to make up for those tax cuts.

My view is that the same is true for a value-added tax. And I guess as I am looking at the so-called loopholes that you are looking at closing, without a VAT or a BAT, you are just not going to be able to generate the revenue to do tax…