Barbara Mikulski

People were so intent on the delivery of high tech and high touch medicine that they weren't looking at the negative consequences to that.

Thank you very much, Senator Harkin, for convening this really important hearing, and what I think is one of the most important issues on how we can save lives and save money, which is our emphasis on practical health quality endeavors.

I think it is a national disgrace that when we are talking about how to have a more frugal government, how to get our budget costs under control, healthcare costs being No. 1, how we are about to devolve Medicare, we don't have the head of…

I find it a bit thin.

Thank you, Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Enzi, for calling this hearing to discuss implementation of health reform's quality provisions.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act had important quality provisions. It had four guiding principles, and I think it would go very much to some of the points made by Senator Enzi.

But isn't one of the failures to comply a lack of information and lack of follow through, and a lack of actual news that you could use, tips for the practical thing, and the failure--it is usually around the taking of their drugs and their…

This isn't the malpractice issue. This is a systemic failure to identify with these practices.

We find we spend a lot of money, but we rank 37th nationally in health outcomes.

I know Dr. Carter at the Department of Defense has embarked upon this, and you and NASA are the big satellite agencies.

There are three Nobel Prize winners who work at NIST.

Is this one of the top flashing lights for the next Secretary of Commerce to stand sentry over, working with NOAA and us to make sure this is as on track as we can possibly make it?

I am concerned about delays.

I think that is good, but I don't think the Secretary of Commerce is America's salesperson.

We really think that Secretary Locke brought such incredible expertise--not only his own background in the State of Washington, but he, as the Governor of the State of Washington, had to look within his own State and look outward to the…

We also want to know how we can create jobs without having an industrial policy of picking winners and losers.

I think it is phenomenal. It is truly, truly phenomenal, and we are proud of them.

Now under JPSS, under the continuing resolution, we give JPSS $380 million. We understand that the need could be as much as $900 million.

I don't want to wait until 10 years from now. And I don't want to wait an hour-and-a-half before people are supposed to hit the streets and we have another boondoggle.

Why invent a cure for Alzheimer's when you can steal it from somebody standing in line to get their patent?

I hope this will be his last hearing before us, not because he hasn't done a very good job as Secretary of Commerce, but because we know he will play an important role.

I am really apprehensive about this, and I don't want a boondoggle in terms of the lack of weather coverage.

I intend to work very closely with your successor so that the fact that when we do the census, even though our population is increasing only by 10 percent, the census for 2010 cost double--double--what it did to do the census in 2000.

We want to have ongoing conversations with you. I'll be meeting with these NGOs next week.

Under Senator Leahy's leadership--he'll be too modest to tell you--we actually--he actually helped fund, creating a factory where they made low-cost limbs to put people literally back on their feet again.