Joe Manchin

Thank you, James, to all of you.

The family members were trying. They wear out and they give up, and they say I can't do it any longer.

Thank you, Senator Manchin and Congresswoman Capito, for the opportunity to testify here today.

Our purpose for that was to reduce our cost but to give quality care and to have people have respect and dignity.

If we do not get our act together at our ports, then not only are we not going to double our exports, we are going to have a hard time receiving imports with the ships that are going to be coming through the expanded Panama Canal at the…

I hope that you will advocate for actions that can limit the risk to our mission and increase our chances of success.

we've always been supportive of [foreign military sales] but I think we can up our game a little bit. . . . Maybe in some cases take a look at taking a little bit more risk than we've been willing to take in the past.

General Grass, the Army has proposed divesture of the C-23 Sherpa, a non-standard airlift platform that is used by National Guard units for critical Homeland security missions, and by our special forces units in combat.

General Grass, if confirmed, would you work to find a cost-effective solution that would allow National Guard units to retain the C-23?

The President's repeated emphasis on withdrawal, without laying out what would constitute a successful and sustainable transition, has only fed the belief in Afghanistan that the United States is committed to getting out regardless of…

We are the fastest growing container port in the Nation. Last year, 12.5 percent of all containers that came in the United States came through Savannah.

The recent storms that hit West Virginia left over a third of our State without power.

General Grass, are you comfortable with the National Guard's ability to coordinate efforts and manpower with Federal agencies?

It is of critical importance that we address this issue, General Bostick, in the short term.

We could delay the further withdrawal of U.S. forces until 2014 so as to give our commanders maximum flexibility and combat power to achieve our goals.

This path would constitute a rush to failure, place unnecessary risks on our forces, and I could not support it in any respect.

I would assume that you all think that would be a job creator for America if we built it through, into America?

I have always been a firm believer that we should and must develop all of our domestic energy resources here at home to ensure our country more energy secure.

I have a hard time understanding why this has become a political football. It makes so much common sense that you want to buy off of your friends and not your enemies.

Security should be the most factor, I think, the main factor of what we should be concerned about.

We want to start building things again in America.

the Keystone XL pipeline project, which would have provided both additional cross-border pipeline capacity and essential pipeline capacity from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast, has been rejected with no clear plan to move forward.

If we are to continue to take advantage of the bountiful resources in our Gulf, we need these industries which form the ecosystem of support necessary to continue drilling in the Gulf.

Which country would benefit most if America does not build the pipeline and that product does not come?

I rise today to mark a truly important day for my State, and indeed this entire nation. December 6 is National Miner's Day, a time when we stop to honor our nation's coal miners and remember those who have done so much to make this great…