Mike Rounds

I believe that it is very important that the Office of Government Ethics provide solid, firm, independent advice.

To the extent of my authority as Director, if confirmed, I will do so, just as I would with any other agency or department within the Executive branch.

I had originally intended to offer an amendment today that would address a significant issue facing my State and others.

I hope that this Administration is different than the last one when it comes to federalism and the attitude that the Federal Government should be controlling access to water.

I will put a hold on it until I have time to find out all the truth.

It seems to me that a moratorium since 2007-2008 would seem to be inappropriate to me.

To suggest that the Corps would restrict access to an entity up and down the river from getting access, getting a legal right-of-way to get to the water that they are entitled to seems to me to be a terrible overreach of federalism.

What can you do to convince me that, once you are a member of the Federal Reserve, you will advocate in a way different than just the idea that we are going to appoint an advisory committee to make certain we do not have overreach?

It seems to me that there is an attitude among many of our regulators that it would be simpler to regulate a lot fewer financial institutions than the number we have today.

It is our bankers who keep our farmers in business. It is our bankers who keep our ranchers raising cattle and earning a living.

The 30 days is unacceptable.

I am one of the Senators up here that voted against the new MISSION Act, and I did it not because there were not some good ideas being brought forth in the new proposal, but rather because of some protections that were found within the…

Thank you for your words to this Committee in which you make it very clear that you want to do right by our veterans.

I want the VA to be able to promote themselves as being a center of excellence for a lot of the services that veterans cannot get anyplace else.

I do not want to sit here in Washington, DC, and tell them what a great job the VA is doing when back home they are walking with their feet and going someplace else.

I think you are on the right track when you are trying to contract in advance with different organizations to provide those services for those veterans.

I appreciate Senator Sanders' concern with regard to the funding and where it goes.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 8 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, March 14, 2018, at 9:30 a.m…

I look forward to working with you on this Committee, as well as the Ranking Member.

We need to ensure that our agricultural reporting is fair and accurate.

I, too, would like to echo the comments by Senator Collins and Senator King on the intent of the provision and our commitment to move this date back to the beginning of the year. This provision is needed to ensure that we are providing a…

Do you think those commissaries are valuable to the young people that are coming in?

We want them to stay in the Army. We want them to feel like this is a good profession for them and that there is a place for them, long term.

The point I guess I would make is this just is not the peer adversaries looking at our military operations.

But I think sometimes we have a tough time publicly being able to discuss how serious that threat is.