Jeff Merkley

So if it's the Holy Grail why are we going from $41 million to $8 million with that $8 million not even clearly dedicated to research?

That certainly gets kids launched into life and supports the mothers, and thank you for the tremendous work that CARE is doing.

Again, I go back to the fact that our most precious resource is the blood of the men and women who serve. When we can get others to go and share the burden, then we reduce the need to send our sons and daughters.

We need to maintain it. I have been to the Central African Republic. I have been among those U.N. peacekeepers. They are capable. They need the resources to do it.

This is also a security issue. You have 700,000 people, including many young men who have seen their spouses raped, their daughters raped, they have been shot at, they are ripe for recruitment by international terrorist operations.

I certainly encourage that, and as we have transition in our foreign policy leadership, I think it is an opportunity for the United States to consider how we might amplify our strategy.

It is a massive food distribution as well as a health care dilemma. It is a dilemma on so many levels.

There is no room in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is about half the size of Oregon, and Oregon has 4 million people living in it.

Bangladesh has accepted 700,000 refugees from Burma. I had the chance to take a congressional delegation there to see it firsthand.

Let me translate what I think you are saying. When you say link them to that next level, are you talking about farm cooperatives and value added to the fundamental agricultural products?

Can you detail how the program, our program Feed the Future, fits into that vision?

I do think that the international community needs to respond vociferously to discourage other dictators from deciding to take action against unpopular groups.

We know that food-secure countries are less likely to suffer from national, regional, or international instability.

There is nothing about starvation in the world or human suffering that should ever be a partisan issue.

They consider it a bit of a farce to put in a tiny bit of money and then claim credit for the entire thing.

I am not persuaded by it. It appears to me we are not making the type of commitment we are pretending to make.

We are cutting $280 billion for infrastructure here and adding $200 billion over here.

Unless it is in the legislation issuing these grants, it will not actually be compelling.

Buy America is not mentioned at all in your infrastructure proposal.

I do think that is the right thing for this country to do.

I am very concerned about the direction of the EPA in this Administration.

If it proposes cuts again, I hope we will have your support, continuing to preserve those programs.

We heard from President Barack Obama that we had turned the corner after the surge deployment.

I think it is important for us to have a complete picture of the view.

If I have to pay higher wages and higher environmental standards with higher enforcement and higher OSHA standards, safety standards, it is going to be much more expensive for me in Oregon than it is for you, making the same thing in…