Tim Kaine

I believe the consequences of sequestration will, unfortunately, end up costing us more in the long run.

I know I speak for Senator Ayotte when I say we eagerly await the shipyard modernization plan.

The fact remains that fossil fuels continue to be a strategic and financial vulnerability.

In the process of not having being pushed to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, the Middle East, that we create a vacuum in our own hemisphere.

I would like to, you know, find out as much as I can about it, because I do think the security challenges at these embassies are the things that have to be solved so that we will all feel comfortable that our folks are safe as they are…

If you in part want to stem the tide of undocumented immigration, you want to make sure that people have stability and economic opportunity in their native country.

We want a safe Jewish state of Israel, and we want it living side by side with a Palestine that will respect its sovereignty.

The more work that can be done diplomatically to have the opposition be more inclusive of the Alawite minority... the quicker we will hasten Assad's exit.

I appreciate the willingness and the constant flow of information with the Department. It has been excellent.

Our lack of moving toward economic development creates a push factor.

This is an important part of the face that we turn to the world, and it bears on foreign relations matters.

When you said earlier that to means test military without programs would be discriminatory, would be, and in my view that would be wrong.

We have a divided--we have a citizenry that is of multiple opinions about it.

I agree it would be very unwise to do this on the military side without doing it more broadly.

I feel better having you guys on the case. I have a son in the military, and it is good to know that there are great advocates like you out there battling for him.

If it was only a matter of employment law we were thinking about, you would be right.

I kind of feel like I am in a schizophrenic world in the Senate because I go to Budget Committee meetings where a primary message is we are not cutting enough spending, and I go to Armed Services Committee meetings where a primary message…

I think we would all say if we looked at deficits right now, they are not what we want them to be, and we want to manage them in a significant way, but do it right, and do it consistent with obligations.

Sometimes even the schizophrenia combines, so when active, major military figures say that the deficit is the number one security challenge, which we have had that testimony before us, it is challenging to know how to negotiate these…

We hope that the economy in the United States continues to improve and that the unemployment rate continues to go down.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Is it wise to be steady as you go if it looks like the overall----

I very much applaud in the submission the focus on credentialing and training.

We are watching it like a hawk.

We appreciate that you serve, but in a day of an all-volunteer military, where only 1 percent of adults serve, they do not understand what a gunnery sergeant does or what an E-5 does.