Barbara Mikulski

We want to thank you for the job that Homeland Security did do.

The marathon bombings in Boston was terrible tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and everyone injured.

I would like to compliment Senator Coats who, on a Sunday talk show, ... added an excellent dimension to it.

We need a balanced approach to end sequester, including revenues, targeted cuts.

The resources provided in this bill are so important and touch the lives of American everyday, especially in times of disaster.

This subcommittee is going to be where the action is when we get ready to mark up our bill.

A deal should be a deal.

I would hope that that would be the focus of this hearing.

But the President wants you to do this job now and this job now is the Secretary of Labor, where while we are talking about reducing the public debt, we have another, enormous deficit, and that is called the jobs deficit.

Your priority was jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs.

Thank you both very much, thanks, Ben.

We believe he is the right man for the job.

I am confident that Thomas Perez is up to this challenge.

For example, should we pass immigration reform, which I hope we will?

He knows what the American Dream is, but he knows what hard work is.

I thought we could get DOD, bring Social Security and IRS in. And I'd really love for Appropriations to be the committee that cracks the code on the VA backlog.

I thought I would convene a roundtable of the four agencies that have to serve our veterans, and actually get Hagel in the room with Shinseki.

I want you to know, we intend to follow regular order.

There has been a breakdown in communication.

But like you, I'm ballistic about this backlog, and I was mortified over the fact that Baltimore was one of the top worst claims areas in the entire Nation.

We can't have this, that we're going to shut down a whole office so they're more fit for duty.

The indiscriminate cuts of the sequester will have an adverse impact on the ability of States and school districts to provide essential support and services to high-need students and schools.

I want to thank you and Senator Moran for your leadership.

I think what you sense here is a sense of bipartisanship and a desire to return to regular order.

We will be marking it up at the level of $1.058 trillion.