Ron Wyden

I'm hopeful that we can extricate Hermiston today and get this project approved.

These are so important and it's just great to have a chance to be with you.

I'm hoping that it can get the green light to proceed.

I want to publicly thank Senator Ron Wyden for his time today and for introducing this important piece of legislation

So you just kind of scratch your head and say: OK, the city of Hermiston went out and completed every major requirement.

It is no secret Americans are divided on a host of issues. Well, if the Senate insists on doing so much important business in secret--which is what happens if you honor these secret holds--I think that just undermines the institution.

The Senator is absolutely right about the fact that 80 secret holds is clearly not what Senator Grassley and I and reformers thought would happen. Given all these secret holds, you would think at the back of the Executive Calendar--which…

I personally believe it continues to be abused and flagrantly so. At a time when the American people are looking at these challenging economic circumstances, they deserve a government that is truly open, truly accountable, and truly…

One additional point, is it the Senator's sense, because we have talked about this often as we have been watching the spectacle of all these secret holds, that the central problem is it is triggered too late and it takes too long to kick…

And with respect to transparency, what he and I have focused on all these years, people asked: Are you trying to abolish a hold? I think he and I have said we believe Senators ought to have a right to weigh in on something important. But…

First, let me tell the Senator from Iowa how much I have enjoyed working with him on this. We have had, as incredible as it sounds, a 10-year campaign to try to end secrecy in the Senate, just so people know a little bit about it. I always…

Well, don't completely despair. One of my favorite aspects of the legal consequences of legislation is that no current Congress can bind future Congresses.

The reason I believe its outdated is, it seems to me, by its very nature you've got to have video and audio. It's got to be at remote locations.

This can compensate for the distance from a lot of major health facilities.

Thank all of you for your patience, again. My apologies. We're going to be working very closely with you.

Longer term, Senator Wyden, I think you're right onto something.

I think, for purposes of this afternoon and the lateness of the hour, one of the questions I'd like to ask all three of you is,--it seems to me that right at the heart of what needs to be done is to change this embedded, outdated…

I think this is right at that intersection.

I think you've got to have a one-stop process for getting these products evaluated, balancing the various interests.

How do you take the array of alphabet soup agencies and in some way consolidate them so you can get these devices out there in something resembling a timely fashion?

The benefits of these technologies, both in terms of cost savings and quality of life, are clear.

I'm of the view that Congress and the Federal Communications Commission ought to deploy significant public resources to deliver broadband to areas where the private market has not yet been able to deliver the service.

Broadband access is essential for modern healthcare delivery.

We didn't get enough of that in the healthcare reform, but there are a lot of us who believe, in the years ahead, there are going to be a lot of opportunities to prosecute this question of the future of American healthcare in a bipartisan…

Strikes me, that's where you ought to start the revolution, to really start, you know, bold fashion, to get these products out on the playing field.