Mary Landrieu

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I look forward to getting briefed by the chairman on his recent visit and just want to encourage our work.

I want to thank Senator Durbin and Leahy for their initiative on child marriage and want to join them in supporting that initiative.

I think it is a major departure, but an important departure, Mr. Chairman, that I am sure you are aware the Secretary and Dr. Shah have been developing.

How are we justifying this reduction, and are you concerned about it?

Louisiana constituents, particularly younger Louisianans, have been contacting my office nonstop in support of the 'Kony 2012' movement.

I believe that our country's aid to developing countries will be ineffective if it does not incorporate initiatives to strengthen child welfare systems.

I want to express my gratitude for your work as First Lady, Senator, and now as Secretary of State on behalf of children living outside of family care.

The President has recommended--which is hard for me to understand, and I know all budgets are tight--a $92 million reduction for the Western Hemisphere.

Senator Leahy has supported this set-aside in the budget.

A couple of hundred million dollars for orphans and vulnerable children.

I particularly want to be supportive.

I also want to commend you for your work with the Director of USAID on your reform efforts for how we deliver foreign aid.

The family is the basic unit necessary for a child's proper growth and development.

I do want to mention Haiti, and the opportunity that I had to go down to Haiti about a year-and-a-half ago.

I want my colleagues to know.

You know that 98 percent of our offshore is limited to drilling. We can't even explore there.

I have to continue to express this to you privately and publically.

We need more inspectors to get our permits and our drilling under way in places that the people support drilling.

We can't drill our way back to $2 or $3 gasoline.

In my view, Mr. Chairman, we're never going to get clear, as long as we continue to talk around and throw statistics out that try to make both sides look good.

We need to get a more aggressive drilling policy in this country.

I just think that it's important for us to be clear about what our situation is.

The facts are that drilling on public lands are down, and they need to be increased.

Senator Landrieu knows so full well.