Tom Coburn

Will you commit to protect and preserve the rights of those 40 States that have a right-to-carry law by opposing legislation that would encroach upon those rights?

I hope you will look at that as you see this necessity of trying to rearrange the money that you have in terms of looking at risk instead of parochialism that makes us all look good.

I believe the Second Amendment right--I believe the Supreme Court got it right.

One of the things that has given hope and promise for change in this country is his declaration that line-by-line reviews are going to take place in every agency.

I have been very impressed with my conversation with you and the research that I have performed and your commitment not to an idea, but to our kids and the future of this country.

Will you assure this committee that you will enforce that within the Department of Education in compliance with that law?

I believe we are at the ultimate tipping point in this country. I believe if we don't make drastic changes over the next year and a half, that 2012 will see the default of the U.S. Government on its bills. I honestly believe that. There…

One of the other commitments that President-elect Obama made in his campaign--and he and I have talked about it--is a top-down review in every agency across the Federal Government about what is effective, what has metrics on it, what…

One of the laws that President-elect Obama passed was the accountability and transparency law.

I want to preface it with a statement, that I have been very pleased to see a man I respect a great deal, even though not in office as of yet, but the President-elect, be very firm in the principles he outlined as he ran for President and…

Nobody wants anybody to lose their jobs, but the fact is this doesn't fix the problem.

Nobody wants anybody to lose their jobs but the fact is this doesn't fix the problem.

While accelerated by market sentiment, our decision to be regulated by the Federal Reserve is based on recognition that such regulation provides its members with full prudential supervision and access to permanent liquidity and funding.

I am objecting not solely for myself. I am happy to work on trying to put together a proposal with the administration that would make a difference and then bring it to the floor.

Are you aware of the thousands of studies that have already been written on this subject?

We have voted an invitation to the Justice Department to investigate a rules violation in either the House or the Senate. We have set an amazing precedent. What we recommend is a bicameral committee made up of four members of each body…

The real concept of our country is we get to decide, and we have bastardized that by saying the Federal Government knows best. I believe the people out there kind of know how things impact them. I think a plebiscite about what we are doing…

I want the chairman of the committee to know that we worked very closely with OMB as we developed this amendment. This is not a significant cost because they have been gathering this data to a certain extent already. I would gladly take a…

I will vote for an increased authorization at this point in time right now for $2 billion. But I will also come back and say we have to find the money to pay for it.

I don't want the small farmer to be excluded, but I think the amount of money going to nonfarmers is a lot greater than you think it is. It is not going to real farmers who have real needs and the vast majority of the acres where we are…

Would the Senator think a certification as to intent by people who apply for EQIP that their primary vocation is either now or is intended to be agriculture would be a way in which we might accomplish the goal? I am willing to withdraw…

Over the last 20 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has paid out $1.1 billion to dead farmers. Forty percent of them have been dead over 7 years; 19 percent of them have been dead over 11 years. Yet they continued to pay them. What…

I will be happy to discuss my objections to the bill. They are small and deal with reverse mortgages, not conventional FHA, or the increased cap or the lower downpayment. I am working hard to try to resolve that so we do not hold up this…

The fact is that the Bush administration has already started work on this; they have 30 active cases going now. The complaint was there wasn't enough money. I offered an amendment, which the Senator from Illinois--even the author in the…

I would be curious. This is where I don't understand the Senator's concerns about political gamesmanship and trying to make this about the children, and so forth. On the other hand, I am trying to figure out the President's position, and…