Ron Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Madam Secretary, I would like to join my colleagues in, you know, thanking you for your service sincerely.

Again, we were misled that there were supposedly protests and then something sprang out of that, an assault sprang out of that.

Republicans have proven to be willing to be held accountable. Democrats have not.

I think the basic point is correct, it's what this election is about.

I think the basic point is correct. It's what this election is about.

In 1987, our total Federal debt stood at $2.3 trillion. It took us 200 years as a Nation to incur $2.3 trillion in debt. Last year, with the debt ceiling debate, we increased our debt limit by a little more than $2 trillion. We will blow…

I think it is prudent that we have an overt posture, overt monitoring of belief systems that are basically causing people to act out violently.

His cheerful smile, encouraging attitude, and genuine desire to make a difference has been a hallmark of his many years of service to this country.

When you take the uniform off, you can still continue your oath and serve.

Senator Akaka has demonstrated his commitment to public service throughout his life.

Your presence at the weekly prayer breakfast will be sorely missed.

We would be damn idiots to ignore them.

That is the goal. What is happening right now?

I think those anecdotal examples of just outrageous spending by the Federal Government are extremely important.

But have not people been doing that for decades and simply not been able to get control over it?

As a business person, when you see some department that is really out of control, you either eliminate it or you drastically cut its budget.

I am highly skeptical, when you see the comments going back decades about how out of control this agency has been...

I am highly concerned about products not being able to be utilized in government buildings anymore that will cost jobs.

I have always felt the best disinfectant is the light of day, and I would say having to explain in front of a Senate hearing is probably a pretty good benchmark.

So, when we turn people who are trying to help us into suspects, it builds exactly kind of distrust that we are trying to prevent and I would argue hinders investigations going forward.

As we watch every terrorist act, the aftermath of that, people start doing a postmortem on that, and they go, well, we had this information, why did we not put two and two together and prevent the attack.

The challenge, I think, right now is to enable that personal development not by having to self-edit because of the fear of going to a Muslim Web site.

This has been a very interesting discussion and, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing. This is a good hearing.

We can limit what the government does with it but there is no way that we can limit anything beyond the pieces of the government that we control.

Has the expectation of privacy changed?