I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of Amendments.'') Amendment No. 2764 to…

I call up my substitute amendment, a bipartisan bill for VA-MILCON. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The bill clerk read as follows: The Senator from Illinois [Mr. Kirk] proposes an amendment numbered 2763.

We would not have a country without our veterans.

This week, I won a great victory in the Senate for veterans' healthcare when the Senate agreed to move forward on the VA appropriations bill.

That is a pretty brazen feeling that nobody can touch them.

Could you estimate for the subcommittee how many patients' echocardiograms were in those boxes that were never read?

You have gone through extensively the bonus program, which I have looked into, in which the Hines VA paid over $16 million in bonuses to employees there.

You have also shown me that it is possible for a republican and democrat, who is also a union leader that we can work together.

VA is lying and veterans are dying.

It is totally demoralizing for us to hear all of this about our own VA taking care of the best of the best.

There can be no saving of an agency as large as the VA if the employees operate from a constant position of fear rather than conviction and collaboration.

In your job of protecting the protectors, I would think you are particularly vulnerable to retaliation.

You have also shown me that it is possible for a Republican and a Democrat, who is also a union leader, that we can work together.

The Government has failed in its sacred responsibility to care for our veterans.

If people are manipulating the wait times, then somebody in crisis could make that decision and you could have avoided it.

So many of these veterans had no idea that they had severe medical heart issues because the VA never even bothered to read the echocardiogram?

What can you do?'' they ask. I want the American public to contemplate that question for a moment and then consider an alternative perspective and perceive it as, ``What should I do?''

Chairman Kirk's VA Patient Protection Act will demand accountability for those who retaliate against truth-tellers.

October 11 marked the second annual International Day of the Girl. This day brings together people and advocacy groups to raise awareness about the challenges facing girls around the world. Tragically, today's regional crises are having a…

I am gravely concerned about the rise of stomach cancer in young people.

The research investment for this cancer is severely lacking and the science is not as advanced as it is for other cancers.

It is very difficult for them to get funded in the competitive grants environment.

I come to the floor to urge my colleagues to pass the 2016 Military Construction appropriations bill. This bill has a $4.2 billion increase over last year's level. We passed the MILCON-VA bill out of the full Appropriations Committee by a…

A new bill, the Medicare Common Access Card Act S. 1871, introduced by Senator Mark Kirk, would pilot deployment of a modernized Medicare card with a secure smart chip.

Let me just sign on with Senator Warren saying that I also agree with her feelings about how quick the Canadians and the Europeans have been.