I would just encourage you to walk around on it.

I would hate to see us 10 years from now go through a cut and go through the same cycle again.

As we talk about jobs in America, let's talk about a positive story: Oklahoma City, ranked yesterday as having the number one best employment rate in America among cities of 1 million or more. In our federal system of government, States…

We have tremendous honor and respect for the work that is done by DOD and the State Department.

A zero tolerance policy is not working. Failing to prosecute is not working. Cure letters are not working.

The effective communication part of that, obviously, that becomes a big issue.

I am just stunned at this testimony, I mean, stunned, that in the name of the American people these practices have been allowed...

It is a struggle when we hear so many stories that we have a zero tolerance policy, yet these stories continue to rise up still.

We have to move passed they have their passport; they could leave if they want to.

So that is not only just, obviously, your requirement, that is if you are going to be on that base especially, that is their requirement as well.

Are any of you ready to go on record right now and to say there is no one in State Department or in DOD, that says there is currently no one that is being trafficked right now?

Because that is where, obviously, this begins.

So if we have the right regulations in place, we have a zero tolerance policy, we have the options in the toolbox, suspension and debarment, what is holding us back to actually enforcing this on contractors and subcontractors so we can…

This violates everything in the American value; that we value the individual person.

The reason I say that is I have talked to some military personnel coming back as well and saying that is a standard.

I hear many people say that our country has never been more at odds and our rhetoric more divisive than now. I would strongly disagree. I would remind us of a time in 1861 when our Nation stood at the precipice of the Civil War and the…

I appreciate your being calm and deliberative in explaining what your goal is.

If we're going to make a major decision that is going affect billions of dollars and it's going to affect future planning, we better make it right.

this is a national issue on all that is happening

There has not been enough time to able to go through this.

My concern is that if I went back 35 years ago, Congress was conducting hearings and conversations about pushing power generation out of natural gas into coal and into nuclear because we were 'running out' of natural gas.

We are a Nation that values all life. When a bridge is under construction and a migratory bird's nest with eggs is discovered, the Fish and Wildlife Migratory Bird Treaty Act forces the delay of construction until the birds have hatched…

I need to know when.

But if you have somebody that has violated Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, they are going on the list at that point?

I want to be able to make sure, obviously, that people that have been debarred for a period of time, that is actually pulled off so they can be redeemed, I guess, at the end of it.