I have a point of inquiry. Was the UC already granted-- the unanimous consent request? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair said ``without objection'' because the Chair did not hear objection.

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.

for 20 years now, I have viewed the development and deployment of a layered ballistic missile defense shield as vital to our national security. The experience that we witnessed yesterday is something we have been talking about for a long…

I cannot think of anything uglier than an ICBM coming.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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