we appreciate the comments of the distinguished Senator from North Dakota. Also, it is a pleasure to welcome her as a new member of our committee. She took an active part in the development of this bill, and we appreciate her…

I think from the testimony we've heard today, it appears that supplemental funding is needed to cover shortfalls for ongoing operations in Afghanistan.

I am pleased to join the distinguished chairman. I urge Senators who do have amendments to come to the floor and offer those amendments so we can proceed to complete action on this bill in a reasonable amount of time. We don't want to cut…

I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum…

I ask unanimous consent that Nona McCoy and Kevin Batteh, who have been detailed to my staff, be granted the privilege of the floor for the remainder of the farm bill debate. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so…

I am flattered by the kind remarks of the distinguished Senator from Michigan and am pleased and honored to serve with her on the Senate Agriculture Committee. She chairs that committee with a sense of responsibility for the subject…

Mr. Chairman, thank you.

it's a pleasure to join you and other members of the subcommittee in reviewing the budget request

Are there weaknesses in the way the programs are operating or do we need to provide additional funding earmarked

Nutrition programs are important, and they're contained in the part of the budget that will be discussed this morning.

It's my hope that we will be able to recommend the level of funding required to support the U.S. Coast Guard's important missions.

As you are looking to the future, I know that there has been consideration of an acquisition budget that would involve upkeep, modernization, and ongoing national security fabrication, which also employs people.

Thank you very much for your leadership of the Coast Guard and your cooperation with our subcommittee as we review the budget request for the next fiscal year.

on January 1, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began implementing a final rule to prohibit compounding pharmacies that prepare medications used in implanted infusion pumps from billing Medicare directly for these…

I am pleased to join the junior Senator from Virginia in introducing the American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act. I doubt there has been a more defining period in this country's history than the Civil War. The scars left by…

on January 1, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began implementing a final rule to prohibit compounding pharmacies that prepare medications used in implanted infusion pumps from billing Medicare directly for these…

I'm pleased to join you and other members of our committee in reviewing the Air Force's budget request for the next fiscal year.

Increased production, particularly on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico, would likely reduce our reliance on foreign oil and create much needed jobs.

Your advice and your observations about the needs for funding are considered very important.

I'm pleased to join you in welcoming our distinguished witness to the subcommittee today to review the budget requests for NASA for fiscal year 2014.

The President proposes and the Congress disposes.

This seems to me to be an unfunded Federal mandate.

America's 'Force in Readiness' must maintain a high state of readiness at all times to respond to contingencies and commitments throughout the globe.

We appreciate your cooperation with our committee and working together to help ensure that we have the best Navy in the world.

Sequestration would also adversely impact operations and exercises in fiscal year 2014 and beyond.