Gary Peters

Waste fuels corruption, undermines the institutions in Afghanistan that we seek to empower, and breaks faith with the American taxpayer.

Taxpayers are growing weary. My constituents tell me we cannot afford to write a blank check.

When the money we spend in Afghanistan is wasted, stolen, or ends up in the hands of the very enemies we seek to defeat, it undermines our policy, however well intended.

I have made it no secret I think we should come home. I think we went in for the right reasons but we stayed too long.

As big as the amount that the Taliban is producing--it is a very large amount, but it is a relatively small fraction of the total amount that is produced in the country.

I think we anger as many people as we help, and that also makes the taxpayers back home angry.

I have no sympathy for these people. They should remain and join efforts in rebuilding our own home.

We have an obligation to follow the money and ask the tough questions.

What do I tell the people of Flint, Michigan, who ask me, 'Why are my taxes paying for clean water in Kabul when I do not have clean water in my own home here in Flint?'

It is not our job to build countries, and, frankly, I think we do a poor job of it.

We need to make a long-term commitment to our neighbors in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Expecting judges to just work faster... will not solve this problem. We need more judges.

We need this information, and we need it now.

We are denying these children the chance that they deserve, the chance our laws require we give them.

I think there are opportunities to do that as well.

This is an incredibly important position, and we are going to be looking for your leadership every day dealing with what is perhaps our No. 1 national security threat, which are these cyber attacks.

Well, one thing that I see this doing, too--and I would like your thoughts on it--is that it makes an already interesting job even more interesting at a time when we want to retain these professionals in Federal service.

We have to have a whole-of-government approach. Yet the 'whole of government' is in all these discrete areas, do not talk to each other like they should.

It is really vital that we maintain an environment where small businesses can thrive.

I do worry about small businesses getting squeezed out of this environment.

We need to work more on this, because this is a fundamental question for us to deal with.

I think that is very troubling. It is something that I hope this Committee will be able to address.

I want to touch briefly on an effort that I am working on with my colleague Senator Hoeven.

I serve on that Committee, and we discussed the need to secure the Internet of things at the hearing.

My understanding is that it does require legislation to be able to move between these agencies.