Jim Inhofe

I can remember many years ago, we wanted to enhance the position and our portfolio of energy, of nuclear.

I do not think the NRC has really achieved its transformation.

We want our nuclear plants to be safe, and they are safe.

I just want to see that red arrow going the other way.

What seems to be the problem in the United States?

We do need to invest in innovation to keep our competitive edge over near-peer adversaries, like China and Russia.

Last, we have a system of cooperative federalism. By the way, I have to say, on the pipelines, in the last Administration, you know and everybody around this table here knows the problems that we had with pipelines, so I think that is part…

I do not believe in interim protection. I believe if we are going to spend the money, get the permits, and try to put something in place to protect people and the economy, we need to build it to the point where it should be built to begin…

I have it on good authority that the project was on the Corps' list to receive one of the six new starts that Congress appropriated last fiscal year, but in the end, only one new start was awarded.

While you are taking care of Senator Whitehouse's coastal areas, let's don't forget the most inland port that we have is in the Port of Catoosa in the State of Oklahoma.

As the ice melts on the Arctic, our responsibilities clearly are going up. We don't have the capability we would like to have in the Arctic.

Well, that bothers me, too, and I appreciate that.

The cities of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are protected by a levee system that was built in the 1940s, and the infrastructure is beyond its useful life.

The Arctic is key strategic terrain. Russia is taking aggressive steps to increase its presence there. I will prioritize the development of an integrated strategy for the Arctic. I believe that our interest and security of the Arctic would…

I cannot think of anything uglier than an ICBM coming.

It is no secret that our readiness has eroded over the past 8 years.

But to me, I think we ought to, just in my narrow view, what we need to be talking about right now is what happened last Tuesday.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dunford, said, in just a few years, if we do not change our trajectory, we will lose our qualitative and quantitative competitive advantage.

We have slain a large dragon, the Soviet Union, but we live now in a jungle with a bewildering variety of poisonous snakes.

Protecting lives and property is a critical mission that NOAA has, and improving tornado warnings and tornado warning lead time is critically important.

I would hope that you...would go along with doing everything we can to be as frugal as possible.

NOAA's polar and geostationary weather satellites currently enable the most accurate forecast in history.

I have 20 kids and grandkids that I do not want to hand these burdens off to.

I cannot imagine anyone would question your qualifications for this office, and you definitely have it.

While I sincerely hope that person is you, clearly it is my responsibility to see that you come forth to hear more on how you plan to avoid those conflicts and how you plan to safeguard the critical mission of NOAA.