Byron Dorgan

I see us moving forward to have what will be a safe and environmentally protective program with respect to production of oil and gas on the OCS.

I support offshore drilling, as you know. We get, I believe, 30 percent of domestic supply from offshore.

I am so frustrated with the Defense Department because every single branch of the military service wants to do every thing.

It is very hard to gaze into the future. No one would have predicted what we now are facing.

Folks basically who roll up their sleeves.

We are going to begin the hearing today. This is a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

Are you interested in working on both of those to see that the folks who are affected by this oil spill are protected?

Would you take a hard look at this letter. It does raise real questions.

The financial responsibility of oil companies must be clearly defined.

I appreciate the fact that BP has made these representations. I'd feel more comfortable if there were some binding requirements here, or they were legally binding.

So, you intend to represent that commitment as something that's binding.

I thank my colleagues, Senator Levin and Senator McCain, and the rest of the Armed Services Committee. I think all of us would say to General Walsh: Congratulations to you. We are sorry it took the time it took. It was unfair. Nonetheless…

Michael Walsh is a good soldier, who served 30 years and has gone to war for this country. The demand that existed and resulted in holding this nomination is a demand that could not be met. He could not possibly do what he was asked to do…

Companies like this want everything America has to offer, but they don't want the responsibility to pay taxes.

Do you believe there are more and difficult circumstances dealing with the safety and environmental stewardship with deep-well drilling?

It's kind of jaw-dropping that those who are drilling offshore...had no plans, apparently, for the worst-case scenario.

Regulation is very important. Regulation is critical in these circumstances.

I am not unsympathetic to what the Senator is doing. It is the case that I, certainly as one Senator, see amendments being offered again and again by Senators from the Banking Committee, and they had a pretty good shot at this for a good…

Let me clarify that my position is to ban what are called naked or synthetic credit default swaps, not ban credit default swaps. Those with no insurable interest of any kind are considered naked credit default swaps. It appears to me that…

What happened to cause that? Was this some sort of natural disaster? No, it wasn't a fire, a flood, a tornado, or an earthquake. It wasn't a natural disaster. This was made with human hands. This is a manmade disaster and, by the way, it…

I will continue to do that. I need to do it more forcefully.

We operate 184 schools throughout the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Education.

BIA schools are some of the schools in our Country that are in most desperate need of new investment.

We have an obligation, of course, to ensure that students and faculty have a safe place to learn.

I sincerely thank Chairman Dorgan and members of the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs for your time and interest with this very important matter.