Gary Peters

If you tell them that they have paid into a system for their entire life... that is not something that is going to be palatable to nearly everybody.

These are entitlements. These are things that people have paid in their entire life.

You cannot cut enough to deal with it, and you cannot grow yourself out of it. You have to do all three.

We cannot talk about dealing with the deficit unless we are dealing with all three legs, which are tax policy, spending, and growth.

How do we bring America together to have this kind of comprehensive adult conversation that we need to have?

I appreciate the frankness of all of you.

It is wholly irresponsible to turn this debate into one that threatens the full faith and credit of the United States.

To me, working in a bipartisan manner on these issues is the only path forward.

We should not shy away from having a real debate when we raise the debt limit.

It is our internal credit limit, not that of our creditors.

We simply cannot continue to rack up the debt at the rate we are.

Doing the right thing is hard and often not politically expedient.

If we are asking other countries to improve their institutions, to bring more transparency, how do we make that argument when we are not willing to do it ourselves?

You go after the press. You try to delegitimize the press and say it is all fake news.

I think our institutions do need reforms and they do need strengthening and they do need to be adapted for the situations we find ourselves in.

If you do not have truth, how do you survive as a democratic society?

I appreciate your comments that we may see more heavy ice as a result of the changing jet stream.

If we're not putting steel together now... we could get behind the curve, which would have a devastating economic impact.

I hope that we will be active participants with you and perhaps even creating a research institute of some sort.

I am particularly concerned about an aging pipeline that we have in the Straits of Mackinac...

Some of the cuts that are reportedly outlined in the OMB's draft budget include the elimination of all 10 of the Coast Guard's Maritime Safety and Security Teams

I believe that now is the time to increase the Coast Guard's budget, not to cut it.

It's wonderful to have the first hearing of the Subcommittee to be with the Coast Guard, which, of course, plays a critical role in ensuring maritime safety and the security of our Nation.

Well, they do a critically important job, and it reminds us of the fact that most of our borders are water, not land.

I find reports of the Trump Administration's plans to cut the budget of the Coast Guard by as much as 14 percent to be troubling and disconnected with the value this unique military service provides to the country.