It is our duty. This is not a case where we're not eager to give you the money you need.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Brownlee, like many of my colleagues, I have heard repeated concerns expressed by the families of our guard members and reservists who are serving in Iraq about the shortages of body armor and fortified…

General Hagee, in preparation for OIF 2, you mentioned that the Marines are drawing on lessons learned from your sister Services, coalition partners, inter-departmental agencies, and the Marine Corps' own 'Small Wars' experience.

I continue to receive e-mails from soldiers in Iraq who tell me that they still lack the equipment they need.

I hope you will consider working with the committee to come up with a more traditional request.

I very much appreciate the commitment you have shown in your budget to fully fund the construction of three DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

I very much appreciate the commitment that you've shown in your budget to fully fund the construction of three guided missile destroyers (DDGs) this year.

Why were we so ill-prepared? Why didn't we have more body armor and more fortified HMMWVs available to protect our troops?

We do need to exercise our constitutional responsibilities.

One of the most important things for any soldier to know is when are they coming home.

We really do need to preserve the important role that Congress plays.

All of us want to make sure that we do that quickly and fully.

If this occurs, it would be the first year in more than 20 years that our Navy will not be procuring a major surface combatant.

I feel we have a moral obligation to make sure that they have all of the supplies and equipment, and most of all, protection that they need.

I will be following up in writing with some of those concerns.

I remain, however, very concerned about the Department's future shipbuilding plan, particularly as it affects the transition from the DDG to the experimental destroyer (DD(X)).

Thank you very much. That's good news.

I think, as Senator McCain and others have suggested, that we are going to see an exodus from the Guard and Reserves that is going to be very harmful because of these repeated deployments.

I, for one, don't know whether or not to trust the intelligence estimates on North Korea now.

How do you envision the U.S. Navy's capability to meet current and growing worldwide threats with less than a 300-ship Navy?

I've been following with interest your thoughts about a 'maritime' North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

As of January 30, 2004, our fleet consists of only 294 ships.

You have suggested that a more appropriate fleet size would be approximately 375 ships to meet current and future threats.

I rise today to discuss a provision that was added to the omnibus appropriations bill at my request. The provision is designed to halt temporarily the implementation of amendment 13 to the Northeast groundfish fishery management plan. With…

the Senate will soon have an historic opportunity to pass landmark legislation to make affordable prescription drug coverage available to all of our Nation's seniors, as well as to people with disabilities who receive Medicare benefits…