Daniel Inouye

Chairman Inouye, Vice Chairman Cochran, we appreciate this opportunity to speak to you about Army nursing, and we also appreciate all of your support to Army nursing.

I can assure you that I will be voting and speaking against it.

Healthcare is one of the most basic benefits we can provide to the men and women of our Nation.

Thank you again for this opportunity to share the remarkable accomplishments of Navy nurses and your unwavering support of the nursing profession.

Thank you for your unwavering support of military nursing and the profession of nursing.

There is still much more to be done.

I want to applaud you and the President for working to find ways to support our small businesses and decrease our trade deficit even in these perilous budget times.

I strongly suggest to you that, as with the budget, it is always better to start these conversations sooner.

I want to thank you for the great work you've done here.

I absolutely believe that our leaders are dedicated to doing this.

Many of us have privately expressed concerns, primarily on the risks that may be involved.

I look forward to working with you to make certain that the fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill reflects the current and future needs of the U.S. Army.

I want to continue to do so.

A final question, Mr. Secretary. You somehow alluded to this. I know you have been working with the Secretary of Defense on creating a seamless transition between DOD and VA.

Mr. Secretary, are you planning to use part of the IT budget resources on the iEHR?

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

As you can imagine, Admiral, this subcommittee has that assignment of preventing sequestration, and we will do our absolute best. I can assure you that.

Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary, I thank you for your request of $250 million for the city and county of Honolulu rail project.

I commend the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in its efforts to improve the delivery of foreign assistance in more-efficient ways.

I will continue to do all I can to support your vision of good jobs for everyone, because a strong economy depends on a strong middle class.

Last September we rightly rejected a Coburn amendment not much different from this one. Senator Coburn claims that the purpose of this amendment is to reduce duplication, but in reality it would just give a $10 billion reduction in…

I strongly suggest to you that, as with the budget, it is always better to start these conversations sooner.

Less than a year after one of the most devastating tsunami's the world has ever seen, the Department of Commerce decided that NOAA's tsunami warning program was, according to standards outlined in your testimony, nonessential, redundant…

I might suggest that explicitly targeting such programs is not a constructive way to begin a dialog over what I consider to be an agency crucial to our Government's function, our Nation's economic well being, and our safety and security.

I want to thank you for the great work you've done here.