the National Guard and Reserves are no longer Strategic Reserves but are instead now Operational Reserves.

Just last week former Secretary of Defense William Perry testified before this committee that the agreement with our citizen-soldiers had been shattered.

Yes, absolutely--the Army Guard and Reserve will receive the exact same education and training as the Active Force.

If you are confirmed, will you evaluate the imposed workforce levels at the public shipyards, including Portsmouth, to ensure that they're sufficient to handle emergency and other unforeseen work on Navy ships and submarines?

I believe that the men and women of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard warrant greater support from the Navy in modernizing the shipyard's dated facilities.

He has take charge strong approach. But I think you will see him reaching out more to Congress.

For example, FEMA did not verify the identity of all of those seeking assistance. So we had people in jail applying for FEMA aid for rental assistance, believe it or not.

I have investigated a lot of examples of wasteful federal spending and I have never seen waste on this scale. The magnitude is just incredible. And it seems to be a bottomless pit.

There were several findings that I found particularly troubling. The first is the blatant insubordination of then-FEMA Director Michael Brown. It was clear that he was disengaged from the onset of Katrina. He failed to communicate…

FEMA is discredited, demoralized, and dysfunctional.

I am more convinced than ever that the process was truly flawed.

That it involves potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities, that language is very troubling to me.

We can't keep them honest enough.

Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, told Chertoff, his agency's efforts were an alarming and unacceptable failure.

Do you swear that the testimony you are about to...

Another political fallout from Hurricane Katrina. The White House will shortly begin providing more documents to the Senate committee investigating what went wrong.

We can't find any evidence of a request to FEMA to get supplies to the Convention Center.

Pam became Katrina. The simulation beam reality, and optimism became the awful truth. We were not prepared.

We will critically examine the legal structures and authorities that define who is in charge of assets that must be brought to bear in such a catastrophic event. In its first major test since 9/11, however, this structure failed to meet…

Counterfeiting, because it's extremely lucrative and easy to get into, is the mechanism that terrorist groups have discovered and are exploiting.

I thank and commend the Senator from Florida for his ongoing concern and interest in the operations of FEMA. At the Senator's request, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has initiated an investigation into the FEMA…

I want to make that very clear. The debate today is not about the interrogation policies, the techniques that led to abuses that disturb and concern us all. The debate today is about the fitness, the qualifications, and the character of…

My good friend from Michigan is one of the best debaters in the Chamber. He is a thoughtful Member. I suspect he may at one time in his career have been an extraordinary trial lawyer. However, we are not putting Judge Chertoff on trial…

Brunswick Naval Air Station, which is in my own home State of Maine, is a facility of great importance to our Nation's military. While I could reflect today upon the bravery and tenacity of the P-3 Orion pilots at Brunswick who have…

the recent shortage of H-2B nonimmigrant visas for temporary or seasonal non-agricultural foreign workers is a matter of great concern to many small businesses in my home State of Maine, particularly those in the hospitality sector that…