our Nation is in the midst of a Presidential election in which the American people are currently deciding who will be our next Commander in Chief. In my home State of North Carolina, many voters have already submitted their absentee…

after the very weighty and serious discussion that just preceded me, I come maybe with a little bit more lighthearted message for the Presiding Officer and my colleague, the senior Senator from Colorado, Mr. Bennet. I think everybody knows…

as Iran's economy improves, as money returns back to Iran as a result of this--the Iran agreement that I opposed, that we could even see more shifting of resources.

I hope that he or she serves every single day of it.

To me it is one of the most pressing things we need to do in this hemisphere.

Congratulations to your family and for you all being recognized for your past service and leadership.

the greatest threat in that area--although China is doing what they're doing, the greatest threat in the area, I think, uniformly, everyone agrees, is North Korea.

We want to make absolutely certain that we are communicating, that at the end of the day this is about getting the veteran to a point of care that they are comfortable with as quickly as possible.

I think he has made progress.

I think over time it should be rolled up to a level to where we are not sweating the details but really just looking at trending.

There is a potential issue with timing.

I would like to see a matrix going forward of any of the infrastructure or technical decisions that you are making.

I would like to see what that organizational model looks like as you get to a full transformation.

One thing that I want to make sure--I put this together while you were doing your opening statement.

Seventy percent of veterans are going to return to small businesses.

Defies logic and common sense, and it is something that I have asked some folks to look into earlier this morning.

Eighty percent of the jobs in North Carolina are created by small businesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank you all for being here, and I thank those of you who have served as well.

the President of the United States has fully refused to acknowledge the depth and prevalence of the savagery of Islamic terrorism, and he has refused to offer and implement a strategy to permanently defeat it. We are all too familiar with…

I ask unanimous consent that morning business be extended until 6 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

I wanted to come over here just to underscore my own interest and concern with some of the practices that we have seen out there...

last year the Presiding Officer and I and a number of us went out to the folks in our great States and we promised that if we were elected into a majority, we would do everything we could to repeal and replace ObamaCare. The process the…

I have yet to hear a single veteran who has received care from the VA say that they want purely a private choice.

I want to help you establish a plan that transcends your tenure and your positions, that continues to show progress as we get another President.

This time, I will not give a speech. It has actually gone from 50,000-foot to the ground level.