On behalf of the committee, I want to welcome Mrs. Vance-Cooks to today's hearing and we look forward to her testimony.

American voters deserve an election system that allows every eligible American who wants to participate in our democracy the opportunity to do so without unnecessary burdens.

I do not think you are afraid of being protested or picketed or something like that.

We have a lot of instances in our government where an up-front cost is recouped over the next 10 years.

Adequate facilities to vote and safety for our children cannot be competing interests.

The bottom line is very simple. I respect my colleagues' fidelity to the First Amendment, but no amendment is absolute.

We are not going to get things done without your--it would not get done without your leadership.

When groups can run ad campaigns without disclosing their true identities, they freely resort to vicious and dishonest attack ads.

I want to take a moment to recognize and thank one of the Senate's great public servants, the Staff Director of the Rules Committee, my dear friend, Jean Parvin Bordewich.

Most countries have ratified eight core conventions. Sadly, the United States has only ratified two.

I worked to create a new transit-oriented development planning pilot program to provide grants for communities.

Now, there is another being developed on the Western end, the sort of mirror image of East Side Access, is Amtrak's Gateway Program to build--and I am sure Bob is very interested in this, as well--to build two new tunnels under the Hudson…

Give me a status report on how it is going, how the repair is going.

I would like to express my support for Mr. Tony Blinken who was recently nominated to be the next Deputy Secretary of State.

No other nation has trade deficits like this, and, while we respect this body in deliberating over budget deficits, every economist, Economics 101, knows there is a direct relationship between trade deficits and budget deficits.

What has happened to our jobs, our communities, the North Philadelphia that I grew up in, the Cleveland that I can picture right now? Devastation throughout those communities; nowhere near the replacement in jobs for the more than 700,000…

he is often referred to as the Senator Farmer from Brooklyn.

Can I have your commitment, you will work personally with CDTA and do everything you can to see that it is admitted to the Small Starts Program?

I know you are filling large shoes, because Polly Trottenberg, your predecessor----

Since NAFTA, in these 20 years, average weekly take-home pay in the United States has declined by more than $100. It is directly related.

Most U.S. consumer groups are concerned that trade agreements can be used to degrade our food safety protection.

I helped them get a grant to plan their BRT.

Yes, we will look at their applications as they come in, but here again, I think it is fair to say that the NFTA has taken some time to figure out what it is they want to do.

I certainly believe that the consequences of systems moving large numbers of Americans and who have a history of constant challenges due to flooding and weather-related issues make a highest priority use.

It is a privilege for me to introduce George Tsunis, the nominee to be the next United States Ambassador to Norway.