Today's hearing is a good opportunity to review the FAA's progress on a host of aviation safety issues.

Aviation safety has to be the FAA's top priority, and it's certainly a top priority of this committee.

I guess I am curious as to why the administration felt it necessary to go back to the 2009 parameters when it comes to that, which would lower the exclusion amount from $5 million to $3.5 million, and second, would raise the tax rate.

By the way, there was a vote on the budget 2 weeks ago here in the Senate, and it got 80 Senate votes, Republican and Democratic, basically stating that the estate tax should either be repealed or reduced.

I think it is unfortunate that we are trying to come back and review this in light of the impacts that it would have on small businesses and farm and ranch families.

The whole idea of tax reform, in many of our minds at least, was to get away from that in the tax code.

at long last today we have received the President's budget. It is several weeks actually months--overdue. It was supposed to have been out on February 4. It is generally used to steer or guide the budget debate we have in Washington, DC…

I think it was extended.

I am particularly encouraged by the fact that the widening of the Canal can increase opportunities for American exports.

Do you expect a significant increase in the amount of agricultural products being shipped by rail as a result of the Canal widening?

I come to the floor to discuss the President's budget, which we understand will be released tomorrow. The budget comes out at a time when there is a lot of economic news floating around. The jobs report came out last week and indicated…

The widening of the Panama Canal presents a great economic opportunity not only for port states but for the nation as a whole.

Moving freight and goods and keeping our economy competitive has to be job number one for us.

It is also crucial that we not overlook the needs of rural states such as South Dakota.

As global trade increases, we will need to find new ways to move freight effectively and efficiently.

But, I mean, do you assume there will be some uptick in real traffic?

If you combine the fact that the larger Panamax vessels will lead to lower shipping costs and the recent increases in domestic oil and natural gas production, can you explain what, if any, changes we can expect in manufacturing and in…

Thank you and Ranking Member Wicker for working together on an ambitious agenda for the Communications Subcommittee.

I am concerned that the clarification is in fact instead a significant change in Medicare policy that would place considerable burden on hospitals, especially facilities in rural areas.

For some seniors, it means the drug plan that they have been using for several years has changed, and those changes increase co-pays to go to their regular pharmacy instead of the pharmacy in the new preferred network.

To tackle the so-called 'digital divide,' we should seek to understand the entire communications experience in rural areas.

Census Bureau surveys show that nearly 60 percent of rural households not connected to the Internet say they either do not need it or it is too expensive.

What is keeping these people off the Internet? And are the broadband adoption challenges in rural America unique from the issues seen in the big cities?

I thank all of you for your input and perspective.

I guess my concern in all this--and I wish I had voiced it to you yesterday--is that there is not a sufficient avenue for rural voices to be heard in this process when the panel is predominantly from non-rural facilities.