One, we really need this link to VA. I know the chairman is so committed also to veterans' healthcare.

We want to thank you and we want to thank every man and woman under your command who really serves the needs of our military.

I feel very passionately about this, so that when I am here, it is not only buying the latest robot to do the latest surgery, which I support, but where are we in terms of this?

I rise to urge the Senate to agree to the Mikulski amendment on paycheck fairness. This finishes the job we started with Lilly Ledbetter. What it does is not wishful thinking, but the real deal, where employers would be prohibited from…

What you need to know, as I wrap up this year and next year, that this thinking is going to go by the wayside.

So here we are, in 2015. It has been almost 50 years since the first equal pay bill was passed. For 50 years we have tried to have financial catchup to get equal pay for equal work, and every time we make a reform, there are always other…

my amendment is about paycheck fairness, a topic I know the Presiding Officer, the Senator from Nebraska, is absolutely familiar with. I come to the floor to finish the job we began with Lilly Ledbetter to end pay discrimination in the…

We hear also from the private practice of medicine as well as academics, they are fed up with these medical records.

We in Maryland are very grateful for military, the presence of military medicine.

I call up my amendment No. 362. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from Maryland [Ms. Mikulski], for herself, Mr. Wyden, and Ms. Stabenow, proposes an amendment…

Is the military committed to this approach?

I do not mean closed every commissary, but there was an actual downsizing.

This is really the commitment to making sure that we are committed to the well-being of the war fighter and to the war fighter's family.

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 as follows: (Purpose: To establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to…

I think we ought to just lift the caps and end sequester, it would be a big down payment on what is being recommended here.

We have a big opportunity, that in this budget debate we could end sequester, which is very demoralizing and disruptive.

Don't you think it is important for the Army and the Nation to have that talent working on future solutions for our forces?

The safety of our people is paramount, and we closely monitor the conditions of our facilities.

Where is the breakdown in this process and what are you going to do to make sure that funding is synchronized with what people need at Ft.

When are you going to recognize what the real life situation is and fund Ft. Mead for the 50,000 people who actually work there?

How does the Department of Justice ensure that the thousands of State and local officers on your task forces have received proper training in areas like use of force or avoiding racial bias?

if we are going to lift the caps in defense to defend America, there is a lot of defense right here in our country for our communities.

How many of these task forces do you have, along with this great work you are doing in the Baltimore community?

I think there is a real bipartisan interest on this subcommittee around this issue.

I think we need to be able to do that in three ways. Number one, give them respect.