Rob Portman

We are not going to build a wall where it does not make sense.

We are asking President Trump to raise this with President Xi because, you are right, China is not doing enough to close down these laboratories and keep these materials from being spread.

Having this advance data on shipments coming into the United States from both the post office and private carriers would help your officers be able to target illegal shipments.

We are attempting to get passed simply to say let us require that these packages have this information.

I was very complimentary of comments that you had made to this Committee about a year and a half ago now regarding the importance of focusing on the demand side.

How do we ensure in that transition that we provide that coverage?

I am very concerned that we not move forward too quickly with the replacement and leave those people behind.

We do not assume just because somebody is poor that they do not want choices about their health care.

No, I didn't, as you know. And my comment that next morning, when asked by one of your colleagues was, you know, the extreme vetting wasn't well vetted.

Federal employees not serving veterans during official time could lead to the failure of VA's top goals and the well-being of those who have sacrificed in the service our nation, could be compromised.

Could you do that work on it and let us know how it is working?

The idea of the legislation--and this was started back in 2014 with Senator Bennet and myself--was to establish some common language and job codes specific to cybersecurity.

Clearly, when you look at what is happening with regard to the hacking not just in government but all over now, this is a huge priority.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 2:31 a.m., adjourned until Friday, February 10, 2017, at 9:30…

Senator Murphy and I had put forward this legislation. It was part of the NDAA.

I think it is clear that we do not have the capability with Russia that we have, for instance, with our NATO allies.

Clearly, the interoperability of our NATO allies and some of our partners who are not allies is very important, because it allows us to quickly assimilate the combat power we might need in a tough place.

I think they do need to contribute more, a better percentage of their GDP. And I think we should not hesitate to ask for that and even insist on that.

I think NATO needs to be described better, too. I mean, do you think countries in NATO ought to contribute more to the mutual defense of all of us?

We just do not have the speed of hiring that is the, real-world speed and, therefore, people take other opportunities.

I wanted to come to the hearing today partly to support what Senator Lankford is doing, which is looking at the tough issue of management within the Federal Government.

Does that not send a terrible signal to our allies and our adversaries alike, that the United States does not stand by the reasons we put these sanctions in place?

The case for the inclusion of independent regulatory agencies in a centralized review of regulations is clear.

Congress should require independent regulatory agencies to conduct cost-benefit analyses of their significant rules.

Senator Portman is also lead sponsor of the Regulatory Accountability Act.