John McCain

You have granted over 700 waivers. Now, for employers and union plans from the, 'annual benefit limit restrictions and health reform bill,' why not make those permanent?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Secretary, the President said on Tuesday night, that he is in favor of repealing the 1099 Small Business tax increase from the Health Reform Law.

Garbage in, garbage out; but the person who we give the responsibilities, Medicare's independent economic expert, said that both assertions, that the cost will be brought down and let people keep their current health insurance, if they…

Unfortunately, the reality is that Americans won't have the luxury of only abiding by their favorite paragraphs of the new law; Americans will be forced to comply with the entire law.

As a result of the new law, children in many States are not able to get child-only health plans.

In my home State of Arizona, we are facing a serious budget crisis.

That's why survey after survey shows that the American people reject the policy set forth in this new law.

I'm respectfully requesting that Arizona be allowed to reduce its Medicaid eligibility for certain nondisabled adults.

Because of the new law employers across the country will be forced to lay off workers and reduce wages as their health care costs continue to increase.

The new law also forces 16 million Americans into the Medicaid Program; one of the worst health care programs in the country.

Instead, the new law will force Americans to buy the type of health insurance that Washington thinks they should have.

Another problem with the new law is that millions of seniors on Medicare will see their out-of-pocket costs go up and benefits go down.

I, of course, disagree, since there's 300,000 citizens in my State on Medicare Advantage, and there's no doubt that their benefits under that program will be significantly changed, if not eliminated.

I just would like to say, I think producing these documents is a bad idea.

A fair, objective competition is what we need and what we have committed to as a committee, and as a Congress.

I hope that in February we can finally have a final resolution and selection of a tanker that's badly needed by the U.S. Air Force, after nearly a decade of stories of corruption, abuse, mismanagement, and now this latest fiasco of…

One of the primary duties of this committee is to engage in oversight of DOD spending and programs.

I understand DOD doesn't object to the committee's release of the documents.

Unfortunately, this hearing appears to be designed to produce little new information about the pending award of the Air Force's KC-X tanker competition.

I approach today's hearing with a fair bit of concern, and even a greater amount of skepticism, that this hearing will be beneficial to our job of oversight.

American industry relies on the integrity of the Defense Department's acquisition processes.

What we decided to do was to have a competition. It was the right decision to do, and it saved $7 billion.

Given the uncertainty in the region, including Bahrain, as well as the crisis we are facing here at home with deep deficits, in your opinion, should taxpayer funds exceeding $370 million continue to be expended this fiscal year on the…

But to his great credit, John McCain put a stop to that.

Secretary Gates, in a subsequent January 6, 2011, statement, you mentioned a review of DOD intelligence organizations conducted in conjunction with the Office of the DNI.