John McCain

What causes the child care shortage on military bases? Is it due to a lack of skilled personnel available to work in child development centers or a lack of physical space available in those centers? Are there any other limiting factors…

What are the average wait-list times for child care on military bases?

Our recommendations strengthen the foundation of the All-Volunteer Force and ensure our national security.

People would sign up for this retirement benefit when they came in because, as Senator McCain has said, it would be prospective.

Commissioners, under your proposed TRICARE Choice plan, Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) would be network providers to commercial health plans.

Commissioners, in your view, how much money are retirees willing to pay for better healthcare for themselves and their family members?

Commissioners, you have recommended that military retirees' healthcare costs increase over a 15-year period such that retirees ultimately would pay about 20 percent of the overall costs of their healthcare.

I wish that every member of the Senate could have heard your last comment, because we are going to be in a very significant struggle here in regard to sequestration.

It is our obligation to ensure the Services have the proper resources to support our servicemembers.

We must not shrink from the opportunity before us to create a modern system of compensation and retirement benefits that would provide greater value and choice for those it serves.

We are honored to be here and thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

I thank all of you again.

You're going to have to shut up or I'm going to have you arrested. If we can't get the Capitol Hill police in here immediately, get out of here you low life scum.

Senator John McCain lashing back with some choice words.

So, again, whoever in the Pentagon let that contract did not let the right contract.

And I do not think a lot of Americans know that Armed Forces Network is at every base, every ship, every defense installation of any size, not only in the United States but in all our bases all around the world.

Well, it was interesting that General Dempsey, our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said that we have a technological advantage in every form of warfare over our potential adversaries except for one, and that is the issue…

So the Pentagon should have been smarter.

It obviously poses a direct threat to literally their lives.

I want to thank the witnesses.

Thank you, Senator Blumenthal, for your leadership on this issue that you just discussed with the witnesses.

A return to sequestration would necessitate a revisit and revision of the defense strategy.

Given the president's budget request is still expected to be significantly below the funding level for DOD originally recommended...

I want to thank you for the work that you are doing, along with a number of efforts, to try to address this issue.

Further sequestering of the defense budgets must be avoided.