Barbara Mikulski

Governor Ehrlich, our new Governor of Maryland, says that his new number one priority is water and sewer projects and Maryland getting its fair share.

I do believe it should be a cabinet agency.

In the event of a casualty, like in a city like Baltimore, or New York, or San Francisco, would the VA hospitals there be prepared to deal with the casualties?

Are you getting the smallpox vaccine?

You are under the command and control of the United States of America. You are very different from any of the other health care.

What about the war on terrorism? There are 162 VA hospitals. Many of them are in high-threat areas.

What are we doing for gulf war veterans, and second, tell me what the VA is doing as we look at what we are about to face in Iraq and what we continually face here in the war on terrorism.

I cannot encourage you more for both ideas, efficiencies, good policies, et cetera, but we are facing serious issues on bioterrorism and possibly chemical terrorism.

How did you arrive at $250? It is essentially like a deductible.

I really think this could be a very important tool as we get to our appropriations.

Did the VA decide on an enrollment for cost reasons, or did you also think by an enrollment, it would also be a deterrent for those people to come to you?

But if I could just jump in, because the time is ticking here, you say you are worried that you will be overwhelmed by more people.

Well, first of all, from what I could see, any change would require statutory and regulatory change.

The IG recommended a change in the law so that veterans could have privately written prescriptions filled by the VA.

I thank the chairman for his courtesy. I am part of a bipartisan special project task force under Senator Frist.

The pattern of the President underestimating the VA's needs and then relying on Congress to make up the difference is simply unsustainable over the long-term.

Well, what I would like you to understand is the specific method, and I would like you to really think about this...

And I do not know if they are foreclosing. I just think they are sending scare letters.

It just seems with flipping when we close 3 loopholes and the scammers and the scummers find 5 more.

Can you just tell me what we are going to do on it?

And the thing we do not want to do with any of these policies is penalize the poor.

We do not know if any of these loans have FHA insurance on them.

As you know, there are advocates who are very troubled by this.

I do find it commendable what you have been doing.

I really do not believe that President Bush, who I believe is a real conservative, wants to in fiscal year 2004, a presidential election year, have a program that just sputters out.