Barbara Mikulski: “Thank you very much for holding this hearing.”

I rise to take the floor for what I call my summing-up speech. It is not my farewell speech because I have the honor and privilege of being the ranking member and former chairman of the Appropriations Committee. I will speak later on this…

today I wish to honor the life and legacy of a dear friend, a great leader, a pioneer in his own right, someone I admire, and someone many of us have cheered on, President Shimon Peres. President Peres helped build Israel through hard work…

We especially thank Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran and Vice-Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski for their unwavering support for the NIH.

I want the Senator to know our side does support the Second Amendment, but we support all of the amendments of the Constitution--not just one. One of those is the right to speech, and implicit in that is maybe to get a real vote on real…