Kay Bailey Hutchison

I was very excited, as I know everyone was, with the SpaceX, the Dragon success. That just is a wonderful milestone.

on the point of the hearing, Senator Rockefeller and I have agreed certainly with Senator Inhofe to hold a hearing, which we notified Senator Inhofe we would, and I expect it to be next month for the hearing schedule. I just hope we can…

I too object, along with Senator Rockefeller. I have been on the National Transportation Safety Board, and I know well the kinds of cases that are pilots' license revocations and the NTSB process for appeals of those. I understand Senator…

I heard the remarks of my colleague from California, and I just cannot let the record stand that President Obama took over in the worst circumstances of our time. Really? The debt of this country was around $10 trillion when President…

Germany has refused to contribute any resources into Libya.

I think this is not a political, but rather an American essential, that we stand up for our airlines against an attack on our sovereignty.

I think it is essential that we be very firm.

It violates U.S. sovereignty, because a U.S. carrier has to pay the European tax for all segments of a flight from the U.S. to Europe.

The tax revenue is intended to mitigate aviation emissions, but there's no obligation in their law that the revenue collected be spent on aviation.

the European Union with this emissions trading scheme is acting outside of their prerogative and the trading scheme will have a negative effect on our aviation community.

I think it's very bipartisan, and the things that have been mentioned by Senator Rockefeller and Senator Cantwell, I think are legitimate concerns.

the aviation industry has had a tremendously successful record, in fact the most successful, in limiting its impact on the environment

I think that the EU needs to step back and I'm hoping, Mr. Secretary, that you're going to... assure that the U.S. aviation community is not penalized by the EU.

I just hope very much that you will see your way to being a little more forthcoming on something that's pretty clear to all of us that we need to do for America.

As part of this year's budget, the Army has submitted a request for approval to enter into a second multiyear procurement contract for the CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

Multiyear contracts (MYCs) provide cost savings because they stabilize contractors and subcontractors over a longer period of time.

Any effort to revise or update the law must keep consumers front and center and is something that we will be watching extremely closely.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I want to ask a parochial question, and it's about the State of Texas wireless broadband network for emergency responders.

I support broadband adoption and digital literacy efforts. It's vital that we make sure that broadband is both widely deployed and adopted in rural and urban communities on a nationwide basis.

I think it has been proven that the licenses that have the fewest strings attached or the ones that are burdened with the least number of restrictions will auction for the most revenue.

I want to ask the Senator from Tennessee, because he brought this up, not only is it so clear there is more going out than coming back in, what would he say to the fact we also--not we, because he, along with myself and the Senator from…

I am so pleased the Senator from Tennessee brought that up because there is a way for us to at least fix one of the entitlements in a relatively painless way, and that is Social Security. It is going to have a few changes that some people…

I thank the Senator from Tennessee. It is interesting, because there are four of us on the floor right now-- the Senator from Wisconsin, the Senator from Tennessee, the Senator from Wyoming, and myself. We have one thing in common. Every…

Well, of course. And the spending issue is very interesting. I look to my colleague from Tennessee, who is really one of the deficit hawks in the Senate, and when I look at the statistics that are being put out about the entitlement…

More than ever, we must ensure that Federal investments in science and technology address today's global threats and strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness.