Thad Cochran: “We appreciate your calling this hearing, to give us an opportunity to further explore options for the Congress.”

And I plan to use my best efforts to identify the areas that we can make improvements in, and take a hard look, but at the same time realize we need to get a bill.

I understand that the Army's unfunded requirements list includes a $3.1 billion increase in end strength beyond the fiscal year 2017 NDAA mandate.

I am concerned that the 22 percent funding cut proposed for NIH could negatively affect longstanding research endeavors.

We want to know what the priorities are for funding.