Okay. All right, August 1st.

I want to get some of those kids, young people, into the Coast Guard Academy, and I want to get them in so that they will be a part of the pipeline.

This Country cannot be all that it is supposed to be if we are caught up in a culture of mediocrity; it just can't.

if this was my office and I had the goals to have a diverse workforce, she wouldn't be there.

One of the things that is very important, too, is mentoring.

In other words, why we are going down. We are going backwards. In other words, the numbers are coming down.

I really believe that we can do better. I just believe our Country is greater than that, that we can do better.

I want that little boy, that white boy in Roanoke, Virginia, I want him to have a chance to be in the Coast Guard, and I want that African American in San Francisco to have a chance if they are qualified.

I want to thank you for doing that. But now we have got to have results.

We want to move the process along. We don't know how much time we have in these positions.

I think that we are definitely moving in the right direction, no doubt about it.

total workforce diversity is critically important to the Coast Guard. We view diversity as both mission relevant and an organizational imperative.

How many states representing what percentage of shipping tonnage are now parties to the Convention under the control of harmful antifouling systems?

I have long been an advocate for the highest levels of accountability and visibility in all aspects of the economic recovery.

Accordingly in order to accept these claims we again require transparency regarding the actions of all the players.

We have to help people stay in their homes.

The public must have a sense of confidence. They must feel that they are a part, they must feel they are informed.

The last thing I want to do is abolish oversight, that is the thing we need most.

The cumulative effects of the recession--17 consecutive months of job loss, totaling 6 million jobs--have left these ordinary, hard-working Americans on precarious footing.

I would like to thank Chair Maloney for holding this hearing.

I am encouraged by marginal improvements like consumer confidence, but even this good sign is accompanied by a sobering counterpoint.

You know, I have often talked about how, in our Country, we believe that we are prepared for emergencies.

I just worry that when it times come for the rubber to meet the road, we will discover there is no road.

I promise you we will work with the Coast Guard and others in our Defense Department to see what we can do to bring clarity.

What I would suggest is that you all adopt the Commander-in-Chief's very words, the urgency of now.