On the recordFebruary 17, 2011
I thank the chairman of the full committee. He has been exceptionally gracious. I think Senators understand we would not be here other than the fact that the chairman and Senator Hutchison have prosecuted this case relentlessly in a bipartisan way. We knew if we stayed at it on the slots issue we would get it resolved. I thank him, given all the other things he has on his plate, for his help on the unmanned aerial systems. As my colleague knows, Senator Schumer and I have strong views on this issue, and we are fairly passionate characters. The chairman has been very patient. We know we have challenges in terms of working out the exact number of additional sites. We thank him for his thoughtfulness. This is going to be a good bill. We are going to conference in a good position. It could not have happened without his tenacity and Senator Hutchison's.
