Ben Cardin

I think never in our history have we had so many global challenges in which the work of the State Department can be critically important for us achieving our objectives.

I think that technical assistance will be very important. We do have a resource problem, but we also have a management issue.

Be mindful of this infrastructure or structures that are available to implement this in transition.

Tell me how you are going to target those funds, particularly to the underserved communities that have had the challenges in the past in dealing with lead poisoning in their homes and their schools.

You know the challenges we have there.

We appreciate those funds being made available. We also appreciate your budget that increases the Bay Program directly by $100,000.

I appreciate your visits to Maryland. We know it is easy on your travel budget when you visit our State.

The one area that I hope we will continue to work on is returning citizens, criminal justice-impacted individuals.

Thank you for your leadership and your willingness to engage this Committee, members of the Senate, as well as stakeholders on making these important decisions.

Small businesses want tax fairness, and for them that means simplicity, easy to understand.

Well, we share with you the view that it should be made permanent.

Well thank you. I agree with you completely about the challenges we have with access to capital from traditionally underserved communities and small businesses that have been left behind in the past.

The SBA needs to be efficient and serve America's entrepreneurs. It does not need to be making risky bets on the taxpayer's dime.

I really do believe that this needs to have congressional authorization.

I just really want to applaud the efforts that have been, at least in my state of Maryland we have gone from one Women's Business Center to four Women's Business Centers.

In many respects there are less barriers to entrepreneurship than there is to employment, so it is an area that we really can expand opportunity.

We are extremely concerned about what we hear from small businesses in regard to compliance with the tax laws of our country.

I share those concerns. I think the SBDC program, as well as the field offices, play a critical role on outreach to the small businesses that do not have the resources to figure these things out.

I applaud the agency for heeding the call from me and my colleagues by taking this much needed action to improve the health and well-being of Medicare beneficiaries.

As you know, oral health is closely tied to physical health.

We are the wealthiest Nation in the world that spends the most of any nation on drugs, and yet we have important drugs that are in short supply here.

It is one of the best investments we can make--oral health. We get great returns.

The reform of the OPTN process will save lives. We lose 17 Americans every day awaiting an organ transplant.

I thank you for your efforts there. We need to identify those who have hepatitis C.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act requires that R&D costs be capitalized and amortized over 5 years for domestic costs.