Thank you, Chairman Dorgan, and thank you for this hearing.

Countries as diverse as China, Singapore, France, and Mexico are undertaking very substantial national efforts to develop research parks of significant scale and significant scientific and innovative potential.

China, in particular, is a leading practitioner of research-park strategy for economic and regional development.

I think--and it's hard--what you're saying is, we're all Americans.

In order to preserve our Nation, we have to preserve liberty.

The public expects-- and I think the public believes today--the Government is out there filling the space, trying to do and take very important actions on toxic substances.

So, in an ideal world, we would get the job done militarily in the short-term; in the medium- and long-term, we would have a presence in the region, economically, diplomatically, and politically.

I look forward as well to joining Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman in their upcoming visits to Afghanistan.

I would like to add my voice to those here today calling for reform.

It is really sad to me that where we are today--you look back in history, and 50 years ago Rachel Carson wrote a book, Silent Spring, and she talked about how toxic substances were impacting wildlife.

I hope and will do my part to assure that the politics in this important policy debate we're having end at the water's edge.

Will you commit, now, to extending the deadline for compliance with REAL ID if Congress has not addressed the issue by December 31?