Susan Collins

An estimated 40 percent of drugs that are dispensed outside of our Nation's hospitals go unused.

We thank you again for your willingness to be here today, and we will now turn to the ranking member, Senator Corker, for his statement.

I will be working with my colleagues to develop a comprehensive package of legislative reforms that reduce waste and ensure safe disposal.

Since 1997, when I first came to the Senate, the number of the accidental deaths from drugs in Maine has increased almost tenfold.

The vast majority of Americans currently dispose of unwanted medicines by throwing them in the trash or by flushing them down the toilet or sink.

We need the DEA to update its regulations to allow safe, comprehensive take-back programs across our country.

I have been contacted by officials from the Maine Office of Substance Abuse regarding their concern that the VA is preventing VA hospitals, such as Togus Medical Center, from participating in the State's Prescription Monitoring Program.

A related problem, at least in a rural State like mine, is an absence of mental health professionals in those rural communities.

There's great potential, particularly since so many of these young troops have access to computers in their own homes, because the stigma still is there.

Our passenger checkpoint screening technology needs to constantly be improved to thwart terrorists' latest tactics.

It allows TSA to respond to emergencies and changing circumstances.

The next TSA Administrator should pursue this important advancement for the imaging program.

TSA should be directly responsible for comparing passenger names against the No-Fly List.

But bottom line, Mr. Pistole, you have been a superb public servant, in my opinion, and while others have left for the private sector, you continue to devote your career to keeping our country safe.

The final issue that I want to raise with you is one that we have also discussed in my office, but I want to get on the record.

TSA performs a critical role in protecting us from these attacks.

Do you believe that the Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) to missile defense in Europe represents a qualitative or quantitative improvement in our missile defense systems?

I agree with your assessment that it represents both a quantitative and qualitative improvement, but then I have a difficult time reconciling the Russians' assertion that they would withdraw from the treaty if we increase either the…

But the number of onsite inspections is also limited under New START and is less extensive than under the old START.

It worries me because it seems that you're limiting the number of onsite inspections, you're allowing the Russians to choose the site.

Doesn't the combination of that make verification--and we've changed the counting rules.

If telemetry can be used to verify the actual number of warheads, why wouldn't that information under the counting rules of the New START treaty be even more important?

I would underscore the importance of ratifying this treaty in order to have any chance of building the level of exchange with the Russians that could lead to any kind of verifiable limits or reductions.

One of my chief concerns is that tactical nuclear weapons are not addressed by this treaty.

Which has been the chairman's point and why he wants the Federal Reserve to look at setting reasonable and proportional rates.