Jon Tester

I think it is entirely appropriate as we approach the confirmation of General Shinseki to give thanks to General Peake for the work that he has done.

If I have my way about it, kids, your dad is going to be doing a very, very important job for the veterans of this country.

I appreciate your willingness to serve. I look forward to having you come out to the great State of Montana.

the VA is pretty much a passive system as far as reaching out and letting people know what their benefits are.

We also have the issue of mental health that is the signature injury coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

I would hope that her and Dr. Gould's confirmations would be expedited with the Ranking Member's agreement to that.

The truth will set you free. We need to tell the truth on this stuff.

Opening statements, comments, or prepared statements of: Senator Tester

I appreciate you coming to my office last week so we could visit about some issues with housing in rural America and in Indian Country.

As we begin this new year and this new Congress, I would like to ask the Senate to stop and reflect on the service of the men and women of our military. Every day, hundreds of thousands of men and women in all branches of our military are…

I want to thank you for all the good work that you've done over the last 2 years.

At the end of the day, from our perspective the effective development of a national grid is for the benefit of everybody in the country.

I rise to emphasize the importance of extending the production tax credits for renewable energy in the tax package we are voting on today at 2:15. These tax credits have helped create a strong and growing renewable energy industry, not…

The energy crisis we face today is putting a squeeze on our working families. This morning, AAA announced another new record high on the national average for the price of a gallon of gas at $4.05 a gallon. Diesel hit a new record of $4.79…

I rise today to call for action by the Senate on an urgent problem facing this country, facing the State of Montana: gas prices. The national average now, we just found out last weekend, is $4 a gallon. I remember when gas was $1.46. It…

the Senate has a real opportunity today to do right by our newest veterans who have served us well in Iraq and Afghanistan. When our troops came home at the end of World War II, our Nation made a choice to make college a reality for…

I rise today not only as a U.S. Senator from Montana but also as a farmer who is actively engaged in agriculture, family farm agriculture. It truly is a family farm that we operate in north central Montana. Not only do my wife Sharla and I…

I wish to commend Chairman Akaka on the legislation that was passed in the Senate earlier today, S. 1315. This bill makes a number of commonsense improvements to the benefits packages we offer America's veterans. I am pleased to have voted…

I think the problem is lack of staff.

I think we need to do our best to make sure we live up to our obligation to veterans.

Are there people that you have oversight over, yourselves included, that have VA credit cards; and are there rules as to how those cards can be used?

Are we understaffed in the human resource end of things so that is holding up the process?

I really do think it revolves around health care.

I think, through the project that we have right now with the expanding in the VA nursing academy...

It needs to be very aggressive, I think, from my perspective.