Mazie Hirono

I'll certainly continue to coordinate with Jane Sawyer of SBA.

If you were confronted with such a circumstance with this Administration, would you stand your ground?

I think it is really important for you to be, for your organization to be, in very close contact with the affected parties in a state in these kinds of exigent circumstances.

I think you are well aware that the history and culture in Hawaii is very different from that in Oklahoma or Florida or Maine or any of the indigenous peoples' culture.

I think that is a very clear example of one place being prepared in anticipation of the disaster and another hoping to get lucky and they did not get lucky.

So obviously there needs to be more coordination because we can expect various kind of weather conditions to be hitting simultaneously in all parts of the country and our territories.

Prior to Puerto Rico, the Corps had never repaired an electric power grid of this magnitude as part of a domestic disaster response and could not predict the assignment from FEMA to restore the grid.

I would want to work with you as to how to ameliorate those kinds of dramatic cuts to these programs.

Is that program going to be cut in the Fiscal Year '19 budget, Presidential budget?

The domestic spending is just as much a part of national security as the DoD side.

It's really important to me.

I am going to want to follow up with you, Ms. McDowall, but I am out of time, as to why these new screenings were implemented and to the extent that they seem to be motivated by political considerations.

I totally agree with that.

I think there needs to be a balance between acquiring these kinds of lands for preservation for future generations.

To encourage more drilling for oil and gas on public lands and offshore to pay for park deferred maintenance is, in my view, shortsighted and not the way to go.

I want to note that the oil and gas industry gets about $5 billion a year in tax breaks.

Will you commit as part of that report, to address the ability of our legislation to protect Senior VA Executives from the corrosive impact of political interference?

I am concerned that the law is being applied in an inconsistent and inappropriate manner.

I have consistently fought for construction of community-based care options for Hawaii veterans living on the neighbor islands.

I think that it is very important as a consideration that some of this information is repeated to them when they reach veteran status because they do have a lot of information.

I know we can do a heck of a lot more to make that transition seamless.

I ask this question of every nominee who comes before any of the Committees I sit on.

Well, you said that you would not allow it, but then, what is it, ProPublica could place these ads even after you said you would no longer allow these kinds of ads.

I think common sense would tell us...

Well, you have to make assessments as to what constitutes hate speech.