Jon Tester

I hope you still can get him in front of the Committee next week, because I think it is less spending time with his family and more of not spending time with us.

6 weeks is way, way, way too long.

I think if the election said anything last time--and it said many things--it said people on the ground, regular folks, are tired of folks getting away with apparent wrongdoings.

I hope your review would come back negative in that regard. That is just my opinion as a dirt farmer, OK?

Look, we have mines that, whether they get permitted or not, they are just not getting any answers in Montana.

The truth is it has real-world impacts and it is going to cost more money somewhere else if we do not deal with it up front.

The Obama Administration was supporting us in these efforts, and we will keep fighting until it is signed into law.

And I would just say this--and I am way over time, Mr. Chairman, and just bear with me just for a second.

If the Senate does their job, you will be able to visit there in four or five years and it will be the same.

We have business people, we have local government-elected officials that say, 'We don't want this.'

This is why people come to places like Montana, why they covet places like Montana.

We could very well end up in a situation like we have in Butte, where it is one of the largest superfund sites.

This legislation will help guarantee that large-scale mining will never threaten the headwaters of the Yellowstone.

There are some places on Earth we simply should not mine. This is one of them.

It has been a long, hot, dry summer in Montana. That is why I rise today to honor the brave men and women in Montana who are fighting wildfires throughout our great State, the families who are facing devastating losses due to drought and…

I look forward to that day. We will do a backflip together.

You talked about, you know, 155,000 veterans that are waiting for appeals.

It is your belief that the modernization efforts that are in play right now will fix this problem of bad forecasting--and it is bad.

I think this is in your bailiwick, and I would like to know what you can do to increase projection integrity, if you are confirmed for this position.

Unfortunately, 'most veterans' does not necessarily include veterans in my State and other rural States.

The good news is by 2018, 92 percent of the veterans will have access to burial options within 75 miles of their home.

I really think it is important to listen to our veterans. I value what they have to say.

I certainly think that the VA could have handled it much better in the weeks and days following the revelation.

I believe that my experience, and from what I have picked up having worked over here, is that currently there is a disconnect between the field and the VA Headquarters.

I think that is really the bottom line.