Ben Cardin

I think the reauthorization of WRDA--it has been 5 years, it is critically important we get this done.

You have a responsibility to do everything you can for safety, and this Committee has a responsibility on oversight, and we work together.

I want to question another potential danger that was recognized several decades ago and the Commission took steps then by issuing regulations.

Let me thank Senator Boxer and Senator Carper both for your extraordinary leadership on this issue and related issues.

It is my understanding that not all the power plants are necessarily in full compliance with those requirements.

And to take domestic American partnerships, which are here creating jobs in America and employing Americans, working for Americans, and to put them under the knife to make multinational corporations, put them in a different situation...

I think I would be very reluctant to give up the pass-throughs in what might end up being the tax policy of this country.

I have been working to strengthen the ability of pass-through entities for two major reasons.

We can argue the cause, we can argue a lot of issues. But the facts are the facts, and we need to take the appropriate steps in order to protect the public safety and the economy of America.

I would urge him also to get, to require our oversight for better information so people know what the likelihood is of restoring power.

We plan today, recognizing that sea level is changing, and that we take steps to protect the shorelines from that type of damage.

The efforts that we have engaged in Congress with Senator Lieberman and Senator John Warner, Senator Kerry and Senator Boxer, in order to take responsible steps to deal with climate change, was not aimed at what was happening in the United…

The time to act is now, to harden our infrastructure against extreme heat.

Maryland has been one of the leaders in developing sensible plans to deal with our environment.

Climate change is upon us. It is real.

One of the options, of course, is that there is a coup from within and that there is no predictability as to what type of government comes next.

It shows Iran is more willing to take risks. It shows it is willing to be more confrontational, and this is a shift that to me is quite dangerous.

Iran is a very dangerous country. It is an oppressive regime to its own people, which is of great interest.

I think that is tremendously significant. It goes beyond the support for militants in Afghanistan, even beyond the much more proactive and hands-on support for plots directly targeting Americans in Iraq.

The fact that they have shipped arms to terrorist organizations from Hezbollah to Hamas and other terrorist groups.

We know that they are still seeking to become a nuclear weapons state, which would be a game-changer in the Middle East.

There is no question there is a huge amount of space here for significant global law enforcement coordination on this.

I think more is expected of you and that you should be leading.

I think we should look at some of the suggestions that have been made, including elevating the presence within the State Department.

We have a lot more that needs to be done.