I'm pleased to join you in welcoming this distinguished panel of witnesses to our subcommittee hearing to review the Department of the Navy's budget request.

We spent a year in hearings and working to try to develop a consensus for writing a new farm bill.

I ask you to resist the urge to re-open farm bill provisions that impact the farm safety net.

I find myself in agreement with the distinguished Senator from Arkansas about the possible implications with changes in the farm bill.

I am concerned about your recent comments suggesting that agriculture may benefit from cap-and-trade offsets.

I hope that we will support the administration's efforts in developing more aggressive trade policies.

It could likely lead to support for cap and trade legislation.

I commend you for working aggressively to implement the 2008 farm bill.

We want to be a positive contributor to the solving of our energy problems.

If you believe that the current distribution of assistance to firefighter grants is inequitable or should include volunteer fire departments, I hope you will explore something akin to a set-aside that would allow the use of these funds and…

It seems particularly unfair and counterproductive to the mission of EPA to consistently underfund such a critical and productive region.

How many total personnel will be needed to meet the shortfall of helicopter personnel?

We want to thank you, too, for the definition of your priorities, in terms of funding for programs and activities.

One of the priorities that has been announced by the Secretary of Defense for the Army would be to increase the number of helicopter units that are deployable and can be deployed to the theater where they're needed.

That's good. Well, we wish you well, and we want to be sure that the bill that we recommend provides the funds that are needed to meet those goals.

I wonder whether consideration can now be given to modifying an existing platform to provide these capabilities?

Mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership of this subcommittee, and in the Senate, generally.

MENTOR has appreciated the support of the subcommittee in previous years, in funding these programs at these levels since fiscal year 2004.

These are national security issues of great import, and we are going to carefully review the request to be sure that we provide the resources needed to deal with these critical international challenges.

In considering the administration's request for overseas contingency operations, we must be mindful of our duty to provide our servicemembers and diplomatic officers with the resources needed to conduct their missions successfully.

The submission to the committee contemplates what is called a surge of civilian experts.

Now, more than ever, we need to increase our country's investment in this vital, cost-effective program.

We're at a critical juncture for the future security of our country as we begin to draw down forces in Iraq and shift our focus to dismantling Al Qaeda and extremist networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

People think we are operating in the dark up here sometimes, and they are right.

Today's citizen soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are an indispensable and operational reserve.