We also cannot forget the more than 1,000 people who lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina.

In order for these efforts to be effective they cannot leave out the most critical component--people.

I believe the potential of biometric technologies to enhance our security is great and worth pursuing, but I also believe we need to make certain that there are appropriate safeguards in place so these technologies are not abused.

The collaboration between NSF and NASA on astronomy and astrophysics research appears overall to be strong and productive.

Exoplanet research is also a good example of an area of science that receives support from more than one federal agency.

The search for habitable planets outside of our own solar system was identified as a scientific priority in the 2010 National Academies Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

I think the project, as--Mr. Nadler has been a champion of this--I think the Projects of National and Regional Significance, having that funding mechanism available is critical for these problems across the country.

I want to thank you for--and Chairman--and Ranking Member Nadler for holding this hearing.

We have to overcome the silos that we have here in the committee.

I want to emphasize that I think that this is a very important panel, it is a very smart thing that has been done to--the chairman and ranking member did to put together this panel, because we really need to examine freight across all…

Thank you, Chairmen Bucshon and Massie for holding this hearing on examining the next generation of computing and big data analytics.