I mean we are going to be living with budget caps through this entire period of time under the Budget Control Act.

Secretary Carter appeared before this committee a few weeks ago and confirmed that we are still spending $2 billion a week in Afghanistan.

I feel like we are kind of shadow boxing here because we are trying to get our arms around obviously critical issues.

If your request for BRAC does materialize and it moves at mach speed through the Congress, we are still hitting 2021.

We are still spending $2 billion a week in Afghanistan.

I am deeply encouraged by this progress and agree with the joint statement released by the chamber and the AFL that today's effort at comprehensive immigration reform present a historic opportunity for U.S. workers and businesses to work…

we all benefit from it and it is a social benefit that we shouldn't allow arbitrary budget rules to necessarily interfere with.

Hopefully we can find that sweet spot to try and adjust the system.

We are trying to look after the public good, not just the return on investment for a particular bank.

we have, I think, a duty to make sure that we are helping people make that choice and loan forgiveness...

It seems offensive that the government might be pursuing an interest that the private lenders were not willing to pursue.

But again, it is a challenge because of that 2002 budget baseline that everything costs money when you are trying to sort of fix this thing and--but I think again, we have got to sort of step back and recognize there is a social value here…

But I think again, we have got to sort of step back and recognize there is a social value here about making higher education affordable.

I think frankly that was the power of the President's message when he was on the road which is that people were seeing home mortgage rates at 3 percent and kids were going to see their rates go up to 6.8 percent.

We need to focus on common sense solutions that would reduce the deficit while preserving the important programs.

We need to make LIHEAP funding a priority in 2014.

I have been against sequestration from the very beginning.

I urge you to reject proposals that would end Medicare as we know it.

It's a national crisis.

The bipartisan bill moves forward on recommendations the Government Accountability Office (GAO) made.

We must fund home energy assistance programs like LIHEAP for families across the country who are struggling to stay warm.

I feel a special responsibility to help meet the needs of that community and to the parents who have suffered such unimaginable horror.

I think this is the wrong approach.

This is a committee which last year and apparently this year again seems to be the place where the strongest effort is being made, in my opinion, to butcher a program which has done so much in terms of raising life expectancy for seniors…

Nothing in the proposal could cut benefits for veterans, members of the Armed Forces, or for seniors.