One of the joys of being in the Senate is serving on this subcommittee.

For the first time, a career member can transfer their benefits to their families.

I appreciate what the President has done in the budget.

Yes, they are two different events. I totally agree with that, but it is coming out of one basic pocket here, and that pocket is not large enough, in my opinion, to meet all the needs of the Active-Duty Forces.

We provided TRICARE eligibility to Guard and reservists years ago.

I would just add, I concur with the comments about access.

Yes, we have pushed the system. Has it worked, I guess, is what I am saying?

The families are, in many ways, the unsung heroes of this war.

Our subcommittee has increased military pay 35 percent since 2000.

We are going to try to come up with a new program to home grow some mental health professionals.

the cost of military healthcare in the budget is exploding like it is throughout the private sector

We are trying to get more providers.

Anything the committee could do to help?

I think a voucher program is very good.

One last comment. This reciprocity issue of making sure that people who are licensed professionals in DOD families, when they move from State to State, that maybe we could do something to help them maintain their practices or their…

School choice within a public school setting.

But I would say access to care and because of some of the problems that our people experienced, I would say a D.

What can DOD do to do a better job of coordinating these services?