I'm concerned that we still don't yet know the full cost of the Affordable Care Act.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that these proposals do not adversely affect healthcare access or any American.

How can we bring our resources better together for what we are calling the 'Single Portal Initiative.'

It is critical that it does not continue to use a haphazard 'rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul' strategy.

I would point out to you, and you would know this as a Kansan, that the 317 immunization program is more than just vaccines.

Would the programs under the Department of Education be administered by the local school district?

How do you explain to two hospitals who would now no longer be eligible to be critical access hospitals that neither one of them are going to be designated as a critical access hospital, presumably losing the status and closing both…

This is something I think is just so important in our country today.

I think that financial literacy is a crucial issue, one that I've worked on for a very long time.

I've noticed that only four States require a course in personal finance.

One of the most troubling things that we learned from the foreclosure crisis... was how many homeowners simply lacked the basic skills they needed to make good financial decisions.

I am concerned about the Affordable Health Care Act from one aspect--well, I am concerned about it in general but--one aspect especially.

a U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas

I ask unanimous consent that I address the Senate as if in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Veterans Claims Backlog

On behalf of Kansans and Americans, thank you very much for you and your Department's efforts to secure our country, to make us safer.

I also wish to speak this evening about a Kansan who recently died and pay tribute to his life. My tribute this evening is to Don Concannon. Don Concannon of Hugoton, KS, is an example of a life I admire and respect so much. He exemplifies…

next month, Americans across the country will gather on Memorial Day to remember the sacrifices made by generations of men and women in service to our country and to preserve our freedoms. There is no group of Americans I hold in higher…

I didn't vote for sequestration. I think across-the-board cuts are irresponsible.