Daniel Akaka

Thank you very much, Lieutenant Governor, for your testimony.

Well, this of course has been a goal of many of our indigenous peoples and we are fortunate to have an Administration that has indicated support for the indigenous people.

The first one that we will be considering is S. 1898, which was introduced by my good friend and colleague Senator Murkowski.

And in your testimony you note that this beautiful young girl is not able to be enrolled as a member in the Pueblo because of the restrictions in the settlement agreement.

Lieutenant Governor Hisa, can you describe what impact the passage of H.R. 1560 would have on the Tribal membership of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo?

We, the Committee, will certainly consider these bills.

Thank you very much, Senator Udall. And I want to thank our first panel.

Can you further describe the impact that this has made on your daughter?

We have a responsibility to ensure that the price of oil is no longer allowed to be driven up by the same Wall Street speculators.

We urge you to take immediate action to impose strong and meaningful position limits.

I commend you and Senator Collins for your leadership in these areas, and I do personally appreciate it.

I have often said that a problem that our government organizations have, and our government really, is that, because of its size, it can be unwieldy.

Chairman Akaka, before I go into the good work being done by the Office of Special Counsel, I would like to take just a moment to commend you for the phenomenal work that you have done in Congress.

We need to continue to work together on this to try to find resolutions that have been out there for... centuries.

The settlement of Indian water rights has benefits that extend far beyond the boundaries of Indian reservations.

I believe we need to work together to resolve these water rights issues.

I would say that would be my last question to you, and I want to thank you so much.

I think leadership among some key nations--and those nations I consider to be the United States, South Korea, Japan, and others--would be an extremely positive example that others could follow.

Many agencies face difficulties recruiting and retaining high-skilled employees, particularly in fields requiring specialized technical, scientific, language, or other training.

I would like to ask the next question to DOE and DOD.

Is it that we need to set up programs that can help them learn how to take care of these materials?

I was alarmed by your testimony about unsecured radiological materials in hospitals and medical facilities.

The Federal deficit is a national security issue.

This is not and should not be a political issue. It is about safeguarding human life, the environment, and the economy.

This is a bipartisan issue that I hope all of my colleagues will actively pursue in the future.