Roger Wicker

It was not a Bush war. It was something that we all did and all Americans supported it--one dissenting vote in the House of Representatives.

I think the President cannot realistically believe that this has a prayer of passing.

As a matter of fact, in the 1995 budget proposed by President Clinton, who takes credit for the surpluses later on, it proposed over $200 billion in budget deficits as far as the eye could see.

I think that would be very helpful because it is frustrating to me because, on the one hand, our brothers and sisters at the other end of the building, at least if they have taken the hit, proposed specific solutions to sequestration.

I certainly support regular order there

A full-year continuing resolution will not impact the Ohio Replacement Program since the fiscal year 2012 appropriations were greater than the fiscal year 2013 requested amount.

I am concerned about the impact the CR and sequestration will have on our industrial base.

I heard you in the media yesterday making a very forceful statement about how irresponsible it would be not to fix this before it goes into effect.

I continue to believe it is going to be an utter disaster.

I think every State from Texas on up around the coast and up the eastern seaboard, we are eager to be part of economic expansion and job creation.

We want the inland waterway system to be part of a solution to the President's goal that we increase American exports.

We need to look at this what I call self-perpetuating cycle. When the dredging isn't there, fewer goods and less valuable goods come through.

The MR&T is a Federal project that works. Yet we are not fully utilizing this proven investment.

The Mississippi River is a wonderful work of nature. It is also a critical backbone of our Nation's economy, responsible for creating $105 billion worth of America's GDP.

America's inland waterways, ports and flood control structures help drive domestic and global commerce, spur economic development, and support millions of American jobs.

I want to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for holding this hearing on a matter that is vital to America's economic prosperity and important to my State of Mississippi.

If I can, I think you answered a question from the chairman about ways in which military support could be gotten to the rebels.

The United States would be shortsighted to overlook the return on investment we get from the Egyptian military.

We must maintain the strength of this relationship to enable us to assist and influence Egypt's military leaders.

When I look at Egypt, I do not see very many Jeffersonian Democrats, but I believe the Egyptian military has acted with great professionalism and restraint.

The Egyptian military has played a stabilizing role during Egypt's transition.

We need a Secretary of Defense, and we do. The acts of today by North Korea demonstrates that. What is going on in Iran demonstrates that. But we need the right Secretary of Defense.

One of the key lessons learned from the Iraq war is the need to think more carefully before using military force.

I am disappointed DOD's budget request assumes that sequestration will not take place when it is indeed the law of the land.

I hope the Air Force will make an aggressive effort to educate our Senate and House colleagues of the impact sequestration will have on our airmen and industrial base.