Susan Collins

Did you put into the system additional reviews or safeguards or higher-level approvals to ensure the integrity of the procurement process?

Senator Lieberman and I have been strong advocates for reforms that have resulted in greater competition, accountability, and transparency to Federal contracting.

These responsibilities are in addition to the many other challenges associated with the operation of a Department with some 210,000 employees and a mission to secure our borders.

It significantly strengthened the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and since that time, I know the Chairman takes great pride in the fact, as do I, that FEMA's response to natural disasters has improved enormously.

I intend to request additional resources and personnel for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help stem the flow of drugs and people moving north into the United States and guns and money moving south…

They talked to me about the need to have a patient-centered reimbursement system under healthcare rather than a procedure-centered system.

In my own family, we are all too familiar with the pain and hardship associated with Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's is a devastating disease that takes a tremendous personal and economic toll on both the individual, the family, and our country.

Thank you so much for holding this very important hearing that is of such tremendous interest, as you can see by this packed room.

But, I'd like each of you to discuss how you're coordinating with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), for example, and the National Guard.

I wonder if that could be expanded to also be a screen for mental health problems.

I am concerned, however, about the problems that occur after the men and women come home from deployment or after they have been discharged.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, let me first thank you, Senator Graham, and Senator Cornyn for your leadership on this extraordinarily troubling issue.

There is an appalling gap in our Nation's ability to respond to the use of a weapon of mass destruction on our soil.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently issued a report on the Iranian nuclear program asserting Iran now has more than 1,000 kilograms of Low Enriched Uranium--which if further enriched to weapons-grade--would be enough for…

The Federal Government's Director of Cyber Security resigned this week and he cited a lack of support and funding as well as an overreliance on the National Security Agency (NSA) for combating threats to our Nation's computer systems.

The primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis.

Thank you for your leadership on this set of hearings that we have been holding.

I appreciate your including that aspect in this hearing.

While there are obvious issues with Congressional oversight, accountability, and transparency with the creation of new czar positions within the Executive Office of the President, that is a totally different issue from Senate-confirmed…

It becomes difficult, and the problems are obvious as you try to measure this.

I think we need to more aggressively look at the internal controls in the Federal Government as well as at the State and local levels.

This mistake may cost taxpayers about $2.5 million and it could easily have been prevented.

Striking the right balance between speed and caution has been a challenging task.

The success of the pilot program, in our view, is also very important to striking the right balance, as Senator Collins was talking about, between accountability and getting the money out quickly.