Lindsey Graham

I want to thank you for conducting this hearing. You've been a terrific supporter of the Wounded Warrior Program, and men and women in the military, in general.

If you're in charge of a WTU, we're going to judge you by how you take care of those who have paid a real heavy price.

We will need new authority to begin a program, and look to the committee for assistance with that.

General Meurlin, if a servicemember is not in the disability demonstration project--that is, the vast majority of servicemembers--what has changed since the 1940s when this archaic system was put into place?

General Meurlin, have the processes been streamlined or automated?

General Meurlin, has the paperwork required for medical and physical evaluation boards been reduced in the last 2 years?

We made a bold decision at the time to leave some of this waste in the tank, save a lot of money.

I got a statute passed that put penalties on the Federal Government if they didn't hit their timelines.

The reason this is important is because we've always wanted a pathway forward.

But, it is a place you would send the materials.

If you close Yucca Mountain, which apparently is the game plan now, under the law that created Yucca Mountain, high-level defense waste would have priority.

H-Canyon, to me, is a national treasure.

We're way behind in construction there, and I know that's a different bailiwick.

When it comes to energy independence, which is a laudable goal, bipartisanly pursued here, the national laboratories, I think, can be very important pieces of that puzzle.

So, the bottom line is that the stimulus money, which is a 2-year funding stream, is not going to be used to create a program that has a funding stream past 2 years.

We seem to be spending a lot of money on cleanup and not advancing the cleanup agenda as much as everyone would like.

I encourage you to stand up for the American taxpayer.

I represent South Carolina, and obviously Savannah River Site's a big issue for the State.

The President announced, and you testified, that this new strategy is designed to defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Iraq.

I do think that over time we want to make clear to Iran the full range of behaviors that we find problematic, that we would like to see change.

The Taliban were in power when al Qaeda was allowed and invited in to establish the sanctuaries in Afghanistan from which the September 11 attacks were launched.

We need to find out as a Nation what to do with these folks because I think they're very dangerous just to let them go.

Would you consider someone captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan an enemy combatant to be held by our forces?

The likelihood of fighting going up in Afghanistan this summer and spring is great, is that correct?

I think you're generally on target and want to give you all the support I can to continue to win this fight.