Jim Webb

I think this is a great fit and I will be a very strong supporter and hope to be working with you on some of these issues in the near future.

I'm the chairman of the subcommittee that's going to have to evaluate this proposal.

I'd just like to again conclude by expressing my respect and appreciation for the work that General Ham and Mr. Johnson did on this survey.

I take the point in the study about the percentage of people who have served alongside gay members having a higher comfort level.

This is a 343-page report. 160,000 respondents and, most importantly, this was done without politicizing the men and women in uniform, which is vitally important in our society.

I voted against moving forward on this legislation before we got the results of this survey, because I believe very strongly that it is important to listen to the people who are serving and to consider their views.

This was not a full committee vote that was strictly along party lines when we had the vote whether to move forward before this survey came in.

I'm asking for basic data. Data you could provide in 1 day.

We have a series of questions that are data-oriented, that literally could be answered in 1 day.

I certainly hope that before the end of this year, we will see this national commission come into place. It is 18 months of getting the finest minds in America to come together and examine all aspects of our criminal justice system so we…

The present lack of transparency and consultation... stands in stark contrast to how these decisions traditionally are made.

There are no decisions of this magnitude that are military decisions. Not in the United States.

We need to get our questions answered. We deserve to have a full understanding of the Department's analysis and implications.

Any proposal relating to major changes affecting unified combatant commands should be guided by a clear process.

I'm also renewing my call to President Obama to withhold any final action on this recommendation until we have that sort of information.

I support, as a general principle, the DOD efforts to bring efficiencies into the process over there.

Hopefully we can move forward to some sort of a structure in which we can start having an impact on these issues.

It is profoundly disturbing in its implications that--on a lot of different levels--environmentally, politically, culturally, strategically--in terms of this region, that we are not paying enough attention to this issue.

I was really gratified to see, recently, just over the past month or so, after we, in our country, began discussing this issue a little more openly, that China has been willing to share some data on the construction in Yunnan.

I think this hearing will help bring greater awareness, here and in other places, of the immediate seriousness of this problem.

The initial impact of American reengagement in the Mekong and the wider Southeast Asia region has been working to the benefit of peace and stability, as intended.

From a regional peace and security perspective, the worst aspect of China's Yunnan cascades is capability of the two biggest reservoirs.

The risks of both Chinese and proposed Lower Mekong projects the region's hard-won peace, stability, and the longer term prospects for sustainable development.

We can decline to invest in projects that are clearly harmful to environmental concerns.

As you know, China, which has about 20 percent of the Mekong River's water resources, is not a member of the Mekong River Commission.