today I wish to honor Martin A. Treptow who bravely served as a private in the U.S. Army during the First World War. Martin enlisted in the Iowa National Guard in 1917 while working as a barber in Cherokee, IA, and was soon stationed in…

I very much thank Chairman Isakson for his work on this bill. As a veteran, as the spouse of a veteran, as the mother of a young lady who will enter into the service this summer, and as the grandmother to a young man who will begin his…

I rise in support of the President's nomination of Director Mike Pompeo to serve as Secretary of State. Director Pompeo has a very long record of public service which has prepared him for this very important position. Let's start at the…

I have 4 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following…

The ag industry, extreme importance to us, and we are in uncertain times, truly.

The President also offered up support for E15 year-round, which would address refiner concerns over RIN prices.

I do believe that he is trying to work his way around that.

I am tremendously pleased with that strategy. I regret to say I did not offer a contribution to it, but I am delighted with what they have put forth, and I think that should be our bible.

We will encourage you to go in and look at that or those working on that program just to make sure those dollars are as efficiently used as possible for rural areas.

a life in Iowa is just as valuable as a life in California or New York.

Broadband is very, very important to rural areas.

I want to take a moment to emphasize why the Secure and Succeed Act is the right bill for the Senate to pass this week. I chose to join my colleagues, who have worked hard on this bill for months, for a few important reasons. First, this…

the malign activity across the EUCOM AOR is, of course, extremely concerning.

I agree, and I'm excited to see how their deployment goes in Afghanistan, and how we can utilize their--the adeptness of that type of unit in other cultural situations.

It seems as though the Taliban is now transitioning from an ideologically inspired group into a narco-terror group.

We must ensure that our military families have the support they need.

I have introduced legislation that would give small businesses a stronger voice in the regulatory process, and it is called the Prove It Act.

One that I want to raise awareness on, and something that we do talk about, is recruitment of our forces.

This is a rare occasion, since I'm not a Chair or Ranking Member of this Committee.

the Army's organic industrial base, especially at the arsenal level, is critical to the readiness of our forces.

I would like to start by thanking my colleagues and especially my friend from Iowa, our senior Senator, Chuck Grassley, for his tremendous work on this project and all of those who participated in the discussions on the Secure and Succeed…

I would like to thank the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee for joining us here on the floor today. I appreciate her great bipartisan work on the Agriculture Committee. I am pleased to be a member of that committee. It is truly…

Okay. We'll start our second round of questioning.

we're also very proactive in making sure that our public is safe here on the Homeland.

Thank you, Madam Chair.