Tom Cole

I think it is very important for people to understand, because that--I think that--that, frankly, wall of independence is really critical to your mission and retaining the confidence that you need to retain, frankly, across the political…

Abraham Lincoln said, "Teach the children so it will not be necessary to teach the adults."

If we had cuts of the magnitude that I asked you about in the opening round, I can just assure you that we would be talking about reducing centers.

Having visited 2 of the 3 facilities actually before they were closed down on trips for the Interior Committee, you know, just finding places for professionals to live.

I actually thank the gentlelady. As always, she asks good questions and has good points to make.

Some of us up here have been concerned for a long time about the lack of a new Authorization for Use of Force.

I think it is a constitutional issue as well. And I think it means a lot when people of your stature tell us that it matters to the men and women that we have put in harm's way to do difficult things for us.

Until we actually get the numbers where we can appropriate, things don't happen.

We are either going to have a continuing resolution or we are going to have a negotiated bipartisan agreement.

If we don't get to a good number in the nondefense area, we will inevitably end up doing something that nobody on either side of the aisle wants to do.

But our Tribes have really done some remarkable things.

I just want to make a couple of points. You know, if you are from Oklahoma, we have more endangered languages, literally, than anyplace else in the world.

We have not adequately funded defense. He wants to increase that. I think that is a necessary thing to do.

It is a big win for the Federal taxpayer for sure and for Indian Country.

If you hadn't been going to the Supreme Court asserting your own rights, the right thing wouldn't have gotten done.

Putting as many of these resources in the hands of the people who are on the ground running programs just makes it so much better.

Usually, Indians do better running their own affairs than somebody in Washington does.

I have never seen a center quite like it.

We are never going to catch up as long as this is all discretionary spending.

I think that is the big challenge this committee has, is just to what our overall allocation is.

We have actually done pretty well in Labor-H the last couple of years.

I would probably be a Mississippi Congressman instead of an Oklahoma Congressman if people kept treaties.

Sadly, you know, our history tells us treaties aren't kept very often, frankly.

What has been the trendline on discretionary spending over the last few years?

It is always good to have you here.