Mr. President. I rise today to honor Raymond J. Price III upon his retirement from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, IUPAT. For more than 30 years, Ray Price has represented his fellow workers in Ohio and across the…

Mr. President, I come to the floor this evening to join my colleagues who were here earlier to talk about the bipartisan Senate-passed Transportation bill. I give credit to Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Environment and Public Works…

I want to thank the chairman. I really want to thank the whole Financial Services Committee for working together on this bill, the JOBS bill, Jumpstart Our Business Startups. Our unemployment in this country is over 8 percent. We've got to…

Dr. Woodson, how much does DOD spend in pharmacy costs every year and where do you see that cost going in the future?

Did you take into consideration the increasing complexity of administering TRICARE in the development of your reform proposals?

Secretary of Defense Panetta has said that this would have a catastrophic impact on our military and its ability to protect this country.

Secretary Hale and Dr. Woodson, from what I have heard, one of the most controversial elements of the reforms that you are seeking in health care is a three-tiered system that links the amount of the fee a retiree pays to his or her…

What are you doing in your oversight capacity to ensure that family programs are not reduced during this time of war?

I am concerned about the need for advance planning to implement cuts like these.

In a down-sized world, you have to have the right mix of Active Duty, Air Reserve, and Air Guard personnel.

I think the committee would appreciate in writing anything that you need from us, Uniform Code of Military Justice changes, regulatory changes, funding requirements, new positions, so that we can say in Congress we have done everything…

We need to keep what we have in working order, but we also need to have the best in the world.

I would argue that the best way for us to have a vision is to look at these trust funds anew.

If we are going to do that, then we better make sure they are trained and ready to go.

If our Active Duty component is going to be reduced to the point... where the next major engagement will be one out of two people will be a Guard member or a reservist for a very long period of time, we will have to come to grips with that…

I think certainly we need to do north of $400 billion, but when it comes to the Air Force, the Reserve component got hit pretty hard.

What initiatives are underway, other than adjustments to cost sharing, to reduce the costs of the TRICARE pharmacy program?

Military family and veterans groups have urged that you exhaust internal efficiencies in health care before increasing fees.